Abstract
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is listed as threatened in Mexico but there is little information on populations in the state of Sonora. We amalgamated 121 records of the Golden Eagle in Sonora between 1892 and 2019, including 49 observations by the authors between 1997 and 2016. Observations were from all months of the year, peaked during the breeding season and again in December with 53.7% representing likely breeding individuals. Most observations were from the Sky Islands region and Sonoran Desert of northern Sonora, with fewer from coastal west-central and especially southern Sonora. Most observations were from grasslands (34.3%), Madrean evergreen woodland (31.3%), and desert-scrub (30.3%), and very few were from subtropical forest and thorn-scrub (≤ 2.0%) suggesting preference for open vegetation communities that foster hunting. We found evidence of recent occupation of all general portions of Sonora that were occupied historically, except in central Sonora due possibly to changes in land use and land cover. Although our results suggest broad-scale distribution has been largely stable, more focused monitoring is needed to understand population trends. Large-scale urban and agricultural development, loss of grasslands and other open environments, electrocution, and poisoning pose major threats to Golden Eagles in Sonora.
Translated title of the contribution | Distribution and habitat of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in Sonora, Mexico, 1892-2019 |
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Original language | English |
Article number | e913056 |
Journal | Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad |
Volume | 91 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:To the many landowners and managers that facilitated field work including M. Mackenzie, J. L. Romero for helping in the Sierra Huachinera, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología for granting L. Armenta's doctoral studies, G. Carreon of Naturalia and M. Gómez Ramírez of Northern Jaguar Project for pictures from the Northern Jaguar Reserve, and Northern Jaguar Project and Asociación Conservación del Norte for access and support of monitoring on the Northern Jaguar Reserve. We also thank Victor Hugo Cabrera and José Roberto García Martínez for pictures from Mesa Tres Ríos, S. Winckler for a photo from near Álamos, and Janitzio Égido-Villarreal for support. Finally, ADF thanks D. Ellis for sharing his insights into GOEA ecology in the region.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Birds of prey
- Conservation
- Deserts
- Grasslands
- Madrean Sky Islands
- Raptors
- Threats