The U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) measured environmental contaminants in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) to evaluate dietary exposure to lead, mercury, and anticoagulant rodenticides (AR), which was identified by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as a priority issue of concern for the Mountain Prairie Region 6. Carcasses of bald eagles (n = 172) and golden eagles (n = 142) collected from North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, and Kansas between 2014-2017 were assessed for cause of death and liver lead, mercury, and AR levels. Trauma, electrocution, and lead poisoning were the 3 leading causes of death, affecting 51%, 21%, and 20% of eagles, respectively. Trauma was the leading cause of death for both species, while lead poisoning was the second leading cause of death for bald eagles (31%) and was only diagnosed as the cause of death in 7% of golden eagles. Elevated lead levels within the range of subclinical or clinical poisoning (>2 mg/kg wet weight) were present in 25% of eagles tested, including 36% of bald eagles and 11% of golden eagles. No association was detected between lead exposure and trauma, electrocution, or infectious disease. Mercury levels were considered high (>80 mg per kilogram dry weight) for only 2% of bald eagles and no golden eagles. Brodifacoum was the most common AR detected, present in 56% of eagles, including 70% of bald eagles and 39% of golden eagles. However, death was not directly attributed to AR toxicosis in any case.

We collected blood samples from 237 live bald and 383 live golden eagles, and liver, femur, and feather samples from 322 dead bald and 268 dead golden eagles during all seasons of the year and from states in each of the four major flyways throughout the continental U.S.A. Additionally, we collected blood from 21 bald and 2 golden eagles upon admission to rehabilitation facilities and then we collected liver and femur tissue from these birds after their subsequent death. Whenever possible, birds were aged as adult, subadult, or juvenile and date of sample collection was recorded; in some cases it was not possible to collect this information because molt data were insufficient for aging or because eagle carcasses were found months after death. Samples were conducted under scientific collecting and bird banding permits issued by the appropriate state and federal authorities and, in the case of live animal collections, with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Protocols. All samples were initially received, archived and prepared for analysis at the U.S. Geological Survey in Boise, ID, under U.S. Migratory Bird Scientific Collecting Permit #MB41892B or its predecessors, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Collection/Banding/Possession permit #110728. For additional details on sample collection and for methods on how samples were analyzed and lead data collected, please see the larger work citation associated with this dataset: Slabe et al. 2022.

Contaminant data from bald eagles in the Upper-Midwest of the US. Dataset contains five tables in total including details of sample collection locations, organic contaminant data, and exposure-activity ratios (EARs) individual samples and chemicals. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Elliott, S., W. Route, L. DeCicco, D. VanderMeulen, S. Corsi, and B. Blackwell. Contaminants in bald eagles of the upper Midwestern U.S.: A framework for prioritizing future research based on in-vitro bioassays. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 244: 861-870, (2019).

The dataset includes the bird species, region where sampled, sampling site, capture location, mercury concentration in whole blood, lead concentration in whole blood, sulfur stable isotope concentration in blood plasma, carbon isotope concentration in blood plasma, whole blood ALAD activity, and fecal corticosterone concentrations.

The banding data provides a comprehensive list of where and when each of the 21 golden eagles were captured, tagged (all satellite-tagged, some also radio-tagged) and deployed. The banding data is organized into a spreadsheet (Banding_Records.csv) that provides basic information on each bird as well as any notes about recaptures or deaths. The Capture_Sheets.pdf is a supplemental document that provides more detailed biological and spatiotemporal information about 15 of the tagged individuals. Individual golden eagles can be identified across the three datasets with their unique and consistent PTT numbers.

Of the 21 golden eagles satellite-tagged in Salmon, Idaho and Snake River National Conservation Area, 10 were also radio-tagged with tail-mounted very high frequency (VHF) transmitters to allow for behavioral observations between 1993 and 1994. The observed data were originally processed as a DIF file. The Data at Risk preservation project transformed the original DIF file data into CSV format and created a shapefile from the geospatial points. The observed data shapefile (Observed_Data.shp) provides the 682 estimated locations of the golden eagles and all behavioral observations taken in the field. The information provided in the Observed dataset can be related to the other two datasets via each bird’s unique PTT number.

The files contains certified data extracted from the GLKN Bald Eagle Bioaccumulative Contaminants Monitoring database, which includes data for bald eagle morphology and a variety of contaminants from 2006-2015. This data is for the three main study areas which are around three parks (APIS, MISS, and SACN), as well as two study areas that are adjacent (MISS Pools 3+4 and WI Lake Superior Shoreline). The primary focus of the program was on bald eagle nestlings, but some data does exist for sub-adults and adults. The GLKN Bald Eagle Bioaccumulative Contaminants Monitoring Database is designed to hold field and lab data and to disseminate certified data in a variety of ways.

Summary of Bering and Chukchi Seas seabird necropsies, 2017-2021. More than 14,000 dead seabirds were reported and a total of 117 carcasses were examined. 92 cases had emaciation identified as the Cause Of Death (COD), seven cases where COD was undetermined, and 17 cases where COD was determined as "Other", which included predation, trauma, encephalitis, peritonitis, and bacterial infection. Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (n=4) and saxitoxin (n=15) were also detected; however, the virus and biotoxin were not determined to be the COD except for one case in 2020 where saxitoxin toxicosis was suspected.

The satellite data consist of 9,253 estimated locations of 21 golden eagles that were satellite-tagged in either east-central Idaho (Salmon, Idaho) or southwestern Idaho (Snake River National Conservation Area) and tracked between 1993 and 1997 via the Argos satellite system. The raw eagle tracking data provided by Argos were filtered one time using a version of the Douglas Argos-Filter Algorithm and converted into XLS spreadsheet form. This preservation project preserved the geospatial and satellite information from the XLS spreadsheet and released it in shapefile format (Satellite_Data.shp) and CSV format (Satellite_Data.csv). Each tagged bird in this dataset has a unique PTT number that is consistent across the three datasets in this release. Each of the 21 golden eagles (with 23 total PTT IDs, due to recaptures) have satellite location information (provided in the Satellite_Data shapefile and CSV) and 11 of these birds have behavioral observations taken from the ground (see CSV on Observational Data landing page located here: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5ae8c2c0e4b06d9233b8a874). The banding data spreadsheet (see Banding Data landing page located here: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5c48bd17e4b0708288f25795) indicates which of the 21 satellite-tagged birds have associated observation data.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data at Risk (DaR) team partnered with the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) to preserve and release a subset of their golden eagle telemetry data. In the 1990’s, researchers from what is now FRESC worked with Boise State University (BSU) and collected telemetry and ground observation data that documented the local and migratory movements and behaviors of golden eagles. Over the course of this study 21 golden eagles in the conterminous western US were captured and marked with Argos platform terminal transmitters (PTTs) and tracked by satellite as they moved between breeding and wintering locations (individuals marked with Argos PTTs and tracked by satellite are referred to as 'satellite-tagged' in this release). Of these 21 satellite-tagged eagles, 10 were also fitted with tail-mounted VHF (very high frequency) transmitters and tracked by radio to allow for behavioral observations (individuals fitted with tail-mounted VHFs and tracked by radio are refered to as 'radio-tagged' in this release). This data release is made up of three pieces: the satellite data which includes the Argos data for all 21 satellite-tagged birds, the observed data which includes behavioral observations for the 10 radio-tagged birds observed from the ground, and the banding data which provides more context about the captures. Each piece of this data release is organized into its own child item with FGDC CSDGM metadata documentation and all accessible data attached.