Hawk Watch 2022 Summary Report

Bate, Lisa; Belt, Jami

Glacier National Park boasts one of the most important Golden Eagle migration routes in North America. Biologists recorded nearly 2,000 Golden Eagles migrating past Mount Brown annually from 1994 through 1996 from the Lake McDonald parking lot area. Recent trend data from Hawk Watch International sites outside of Glacier National Park, however, indicate significant declines in their numbers, attributed to environmental contaminants, habitat loss, prey declines, and climate change. Due to Glacier National Park’s location on this critical flyway for migrating Golden Eagles, we are in a position to collect critical data to aid in the population assessment and conservation of Golden Eagles. While Golden Eagles are our focal species, we collect data on all migrants following Hawk Watch International protocols to aid in the conservation of all raptors and to provide a transformational wildlife experience to visitors, volunteers, and staff. In 2018, we initiated the Mount Brown Hawk Watch program, with a goal to assess whether numbers of Golden Eagles migrating through Glacier National Park had stayed the same as numbers counted in the mid-1990s. We surveyed migrating raptors from two locations. The main location is on the Mount Brown Trail about 800 feet below the Mount Brown Lookout. The second location is near the Lake McDonald Lodge in front of Jammer Joe’s parking lot where biologists had surveyed Golden Eagles in the mid-1990s.