NFWF Grant Profile

Currently there is little information on how golden eagles may be impacted by loss of foraging habitat and prey base from energy development in the Mojave Desert, including in areas within the California Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), a major component of California’s current renewable energy planning efforts. Our project relies on data collected by USGS and other agencies within the DRECP to identify the flight altitude of eagle GPS telemetry data points to evaluate patterns of low versus higher flight altitude, build statistical models to describe environmental correlates of low-altitude flight, and build resource selection functions to compare areas where eagles are estimated to be foraging with areas where they fly higher. The logistic models these RSFs produce will describe likelihood of eagles being at low altitudes and thus at risk from ground habitat loss.