Save the Golden Eagle and Protect its Habitat!

Hello there!

The end of the year is fast approaching, and we'd like to give you a brief summary of the wonderful work we've been able to do this year with your generous support!

We'd also like to remind you that this Nov. 28th is Giving Tuesday, the perfect opportunity to become a recurring donor and double your impact, because GlobalGiving will match all initial donations made on #GivingTuesday.

Read on to find out what Nima the juvenile eagle has been up to!

Eagle Family Nestcam

This nesting season was in many ways more exciting than last year's. We got to see a varied diet including snakes, foxes, skunks, rabbits, and weasels. Nima the eaglet seemed to have quite an adventurous and assertive personality, sometimes even making it difficult for her parents to feed her. The nest had a recurring visitor in the form of a Peregrine Falcon, when at least twice the falcon seemed to "attack" the nest, probably in a territorial display. The falcon is considered the fastest bird in the world, and indeed it flew so fast that we almost did not catch it in the camera recording! Nima's parents always protected her though, demonstrating the golden eagle's diligent parenting skills. 

If you'd like to see Nima grow from a fluffy white chick into a beautiful and (mostly) graceful juvenile, check out the full season of our eaglecam videos!  You can find them on our YouTube playlist here, or if you haven't already, give us a like on Facebook and watch the videos we posted. In addition to observing the daily life of the eaglet, the videos capture the very interesting behavior of her parents as they feed and protect Nima. We also added some still images of the videos below, so that you can see how much Nima grew.

Remote Tracking and Monitoring

As you know, we fitted Nima with a GPS tracking device in July while the eaglet was still in the nest. The device does not interfere with Nima's activities: she is able to fly, hunt, and feed normally. The data from this tracking device has granted us a valuable window into the eagle's flying paths and the extent of its territory in Mexico. During the first half of October 2017, Nima flew mostly between the states of Zacatecas and Nuevo León, with a total range extending to about 300 km. We are waiting for the next report with the latest data, but for now we have included a snapshot of Nima's mapped path in October for you to check out.

Youth Education and Outreach Program

We are happy to share that with the funding for this conservation program, we have been able to help our partner organization, Espacios Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable, A.C. (ENDESU), with support from Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP), implement a youth education and outreach program for communitites in areas within and surrounding golden eagle habitat in the states of southeast Coahuila and northeast Zacatecas. About 60 middle school students and teachers recieved an educational talk titled "Conservation Actions for the Golden Eagle and Prey Species" with the objective of educating them about the importance of Mexican prairy dogs for golden eagle survival and inviting them to participate in simple but basic conservation actions in their area, including cleaning up garbage from Mexican prairie dog colony lands. The talk was very successful with participation and positive feedback from the students and teachers. The next talk is scheduled for within the coming week. 

Giving Tuesday

Lastly, we would just like to thank you once again for your donation, and invite you to consider becoming a recurring monthly donor to our project. Your donation will have double the impact if you sign up on #GivingTuesday!  Whether or not you are able to participate, we hope you will help us spread the word by sharing our cause on your social networks. 

Thank you again, happy holidays, and stay tuned for our next report!

• Growth comparison of Nima at 4, 7 and 10 weeks (PDF)