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NESTING HISTORY of GOLDEN EAGLES in MALHEUR&Hyphen

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NESTING HISTORY of GOLDEN EAGLES in MALHEUR&Hyphen NESTING HISTORY OF GOLDEN EAGLES IN MALHEUR-HARNEY LAKES BASIN, SOUTHEASTERN OREGON by StevenP. Thompson• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service P.O. Box 113 Bums,Oregon 97720 and RichardS. Johnstone 604 Yama Street Yreka, California96097 and Carroll D. Littlefield U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service P.O. Box 113 Burns,Oregon 97720 Abstract Historically,the GoldenEagle (Aquila chrysaetos)was a commonbreeding species andpermanent resident of Malheur-HarneyLakes Basin since at least1875. Incidental recordson breedingterritories were available from 1875to 1980.Data were available frompreselected breeding territories from 1966to 1980.Eaglets fledging per occupied breedingterritory fluctuated annually from 0.20 to 1.67.A total of 179 breedingterri- torieswere examinedon or adjacentto Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.Our data agreewith studieselsewhere which suggest a relationshipbetween Golden Eagle repro- ductivesuccess and abundanceof their major prey species,the black-tailedjackrabbit (Lepuscalifornicus). Nesting and fiedgingsuccess are summarizedfor 1940,and 1966 through1980. Introduction Severalunpublished Golden Eagle studies have been conducted in the Malheur-Har- neyLakes Basin in southeastOregon. Here we attemptedto summarizepast studies and presentthe nesting status for the species in thebasin. Nesting surveys were conducted in 1940,and from 1966-1980.Incidental records on specificnests were availablefrom 1875-1980.In 1966, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceinitiated a studyof Golden Eaglesin southwestIdaho and southeast Oregon. This preliminary field work (Hickman 1968)began long term data collection on and adjacentto MalheurNational Wildlife Refuge(NWR), Harney County, Oregon. lAddressall correspondenceto: StevenP. Thompson 116 RaptorResearch 16(4): 116-122 Winter 1982 Thompsonet al.--OregonGolden Eagles 117 StudyArea Malheur-HarneyLakes Basin is in the northwestextremity of the Great Basin.It is composedof the High LavaPlains and Basin and Range Physiographic Provinces (Franklin and Dyrness 1973). The High Lava Plains Provinceis characterizedby extensivebasalt-rhyolite rimrock formations, while the Basinand RangePro- vinceconsists of fault blockmountains enclosing internal drainage basins. Elevation varies from 1227-1586m (4025-5200ft.). The relativelyflat lowlandsare a mosaicof shrubuplands, freshwater marshes, seasonally wet meadows andalkali playas. Within the shrubupland native and introducedgrasses are common.Dominant shrubs in- chde big sagebrush(Artemisia tridentata), low sagebrush(A. arbuscula),black greasewood (Sarcobatus ver- miculatus)and rabbitbrush(Chrysothamus spp.). Freshwater emergents grow adjacent to the shrubupland in marshes.Wet meadowsare composedof meadowgrasses including timothy (Phleumpratensis), wildryes (Elymusspp.), meadow barley (Hordeurn hystrix), and red top (Agrostisalba ). A uniquefeature of the basinis the extensiveecotone between the seasonalflooded wetlands and shrubuplands. Low rimrockcliffs 5-70 m highprovide a sharpecotone between sagebrush and wetlandplant communities.Generally, the regionre- semblesthe GreatBasin of northernNevada and western Utah. Vegetationin someareas has been converted to alfalfa,cereal grains and crestedwheatgrass. Many of the crestedwheatgrass monotypic seedings range from 800 to 3200 ha. The climateis semi-arid,typical of the coolerportions of the IntermountainWest. Most precipitationoc- cursfrom November through January principally in the form of snow.Water on all lakesand ponds,except thosewith warmsprings, is usuallyfrozen from late Novemberthrough early February. Methods Data were collectedannually on an averageof 11 (range5 to 18) breedingterritories from 1966-1979.In 1980,33 territorieswere surveyed,15 of which were associatedwith predominantlysagebrush and grease- woodplant communities.Another 15 were associatedwith varyingdegrees of wetlandhabitat. Three were not usedin the analysiscomparing wetlands and rangelandsbecause they couldnot be clearlyclassified into eithercommunity. Breeding territories were recordedas active or inactive.Breeding territories were consid- eredunoccupied when no signof territorialdefense, courtship, or other relatedreproductive activities were notedafter several visits. Both traditional and alternativenest sites were plottedon topographicmaps and all knownnests within a territorywere examinedannually. Most surveys were conductedon foot andby vehicle, but fixed-wingaircraft and helicopterswere usedat leasti time a year.Field workbegan in Februaryand continuedthrough August. Additional observations were also noted for the remainderof the year,but not on a regularbasis. Terminology used to describereproductive success follows the definitionsas defined by Postø upalsky(1974). Data collectedin 1940,and 1966-1976were analyzedby us. Additionaldata were collectedby us during 1977-1980.Oologist records of eggsets and nestsite descriptions were providedby the WesternFoundation of VertebrateZoology (Lloyd Kiff pers.comm.). Field notesof William E. Griffeewere alsoincorporated into thisreport. Results and Discussion Historically,Golden Eagles have been a commonbreeding species in the basinsince at least1875 (Bendire1877). The first nestingrecord was by Captain CharlesBendire (1877).He stated,"Golden Eagles are moderatelyabundant throughout the mountainous portionsduring the greaterpart of the year.Each pair appearsto confineitself to a cer- tain districtand no othersbreed there. I haveheard of severalother nests in thisvicinity at intervalsof abouttwenty milesfrom the other. They are generallyseen hunting in pairsin the early spring,chasing ducks, geese, and sagehens,and mostsuccessfully." CaptainBendire took eggs from a nestlocated in a ponderosapine (Pinusponderosa) on 9 April 1877and 4 April 1878. Willett (1919)also reported Golden Eagles as rather commonin the mountainoussec- tionssurrounding the lake in 1918.In 1936,Jewett (Lloyd Kiff pers.comm.) located 2 large,downy young on 15 May 1934near the presentsite of KrumboReservoir. Jewett alsorecorded the speciesas common on SteensMountain (Jewett 1936). 118 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 16, No. 4 WilliamE. Griffeecollected Golden Eagle egg sets annually within the basinfrom 1937-1942.In 1940,only 2 of the 7 neststhat Griffeevisited contained eggs. Two sites hadsingle birds near their nests, but no eggswere present, and no nestingactivity was notedat 3 othertraditional sites. In 1941, of 6 neststraditionally visited, 4 contained eggs;I wasdecorated and ready for eggs with both birds in attendance;and 1 appeared deserted.Of the 4 occupiednests, 3 heldsets of 3 eggs,while I had 2 eggs.He alsore- cordedan unusuallylarge number of 3 eggclutches in 1942.Black-tailed jackrabbits wereextremely common in thespring of 1941(Griffee). The firstdocumented study on GoldenEagles in the basinwas conducted by Frank W. Groves(Refuge files). In 1940,Groves found all 7 siteshe examinedto be active. Four of the 7 sitesfledged 6 young(0.86 fledged/occupiedbreeding territory; 1.5 fledged/successfulnest). Althoughfew data were collected from 1950 to 1966,Golden Eagle populations were apparentlylow. John Scharff (Refuge files) stated, "There has been a 75 percentreduc- tionin the GoldenEagle population in the MalheurNWR areasince 1950." He postu- latedthat the localpopulation reduction was probably due to low jackrabbitpopu- lations,with a few eaglesbeing shot. A large"jackrabbit crash" was recorded in 1950 (Refugefiles). Since1966, traditional sites have been examined every year except1975. Food habit data collectedin 1940, 1966 and 1967 indicatedGolden Eagles depend heavily on black-tailedjackrabbits astheir primary prey during the nesting season (Table 1). Ga- brielsonand Jewett (1940) reported, "The Golden Eagle feeds largely on jackrabbits, but alsotakes waterfowl and otherbirds, all kindsof rodents,and possiblyoccasional lambs and fawns." Table1. Percentfrequency of preyremains at GoldenEagle nesting sites in southeastOregon (Malheur- HameyLakes Basin). %Frequency %Frequency PreySpecies 1940(Groves) 1966-67(Hickman) Mammals 78 69 black-tailedjack rabbit 69 49 (Lepuscalifornicus) Nuttall's cottontail 4 12 (Sylvilagusnuttallii) yellow-belliedmarmot 5 2 (Marmotaflaviventris) Other Mammals 0 6 Birds 22 29 dabblingducks 20 9 (Anasspp.) Other Birds 2 20 OtherSpecies 0 2 TOTAL 100 100 Winter1982 Thompsonet al.--OregonGolden Eagles 119 McAdooand Young (1980) stated that jackrabbitpopulations are cyclic.Wagner and Stoddart(1972) reported that black-tailed jackrabbits normally experience cyclical pop- ulationfluctuations with 4 or 5 yearsof populationdecline (1962 to 1967),followed by 3 successiveyears of populationincrease. In west-centralUtah, Murphy (1075)reported that rabbitdensities were moderately low in 1967,rose to a peakin 1969,then began a precipitousdecline falling to very low levelsin 1973. Kocherr(1980) assumedthat in southwestIdaho jackrabbit numbers peaked in 1970 or early 1971. Jackrabbitpopu- lationsin southwestIdaho declined in 1972 and reached a low level in 1973, 1974, and 1975.By 1976-1978,their numbershad increasedbut were still below 1971 levels.The timingof our subjectiveiackrabbit "highs" and "lows"approximate those of Murphy andKochert. A "iackrabbitcrash" occurred in the Malheur-HarneyLakes Basin during the winter of 1972-1073(Littlefield 1976). Severalinvestigators (Palmer 1897; Nelson 1000;Clark 1972;Wagner and Stoddart1972; Newton 1979;McAdoo and Young1980) suggesta 7-10 yearjackrabbit population cycle. Low and high populationsare evident by their marcityand abundance.Our subjectiverabbit estimatessuggest
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