Golden Eagles and the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch

Scroll down to see a gallery of golden eagle picts from our hawk watch.

The Allegheny Front Hawk Watch is known for the relatively large number of Golden Eagles counted during the Fall and Spring raptor migration. These eagles are just as beautiful and inspiring as their bald cousins and we have been blessed with some of the greatest looks at them at the hawk watch.

Little is known about the habitat and migration routes of this eastern population of Golden Eagles. The National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA and the Powder Mill Nature Reserve are sponsoring a program to investigate the habitats and migration patterns of this eastern population of Golden Eagles. Click here to go to the project's website.

In the fall of 2006, at the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch, researchers from this project used traps to catch 2 golden eagles and equip them with GPS location transmitter. With transmitters attached, the eagles were released at the hawkwatch. They were able to track the location of these eagles with the transmitters attached. The project has a tracking web page where you can follow the golden eagles' flights. This banding project will continue this fall although efforts are being made to move the banding site a few miles north of the hawk watch to provide better results.

Two of the eagles caught and tagged by the researchers were released at the hawkwatch. Some of the hawk watchers were able to see the eagles up close and snap a few pictures. The gallery below shows the size and beauty of these Golden Eagles as well as action shots of the eagles' release.