Late in 2019, retired DNR conservation biologist Bill Smith reported to us a few very interesting observations of Golden Eagles in southcentral Wisconsin. They appeared to be building nests! On the surface, these behaviors are suggestive of breeding activity but the winter timeline is suspect. Golden Eagles mainly occur in Wisconsin as wintering and migrant birds, and are not known to oversummer.
Bill kept an eye on the situation, and continued to report sightings throughout winter and early spring. Golden Eagles were last seen in this area on March 27, with the lack of further sightings presumably indicating the birds migrated back to a summer territory elsewhere.
Golden Eagle bringing a stick to a nest. Photo © Bill Smith.
We asked a number of raptor biologists about this behavior and apparently it is a known behavior that Golden Eagles will make alternate nests throughout the year. Both on the wintering grounds and on the breeding grounds, Goldens will construct alternate nests.
There is not a definitive breeding record for Wisconsin. In Wisconsin Birdlife, Sam Robbins notes that H. Stoddard also found a pile of sticks on a cliff ledge in Sauk County presumed to be from a Golden Eagle and concluded that they used to nest in Wisconsin. We will likely never know about historical records, but you can see how evidence like this would lead someone to conclude that.
So, while this sighting falls short of a code for the atlas, it’s still a pretty interesting observation!
Bill plans to write up details of this sighting for WSO’s Passenger Pigeon journal.