THE GOLDEN EAGLE, MONARCH OF THE WEST

That Magnificent Hunter, the Golden Eagle, Struggles for Survival

Below the rim of Canyon de Chelly, a golden eagle and a raven drift along on a summer afternoon, the jet black raven trailing the dark brown eagle. With a croak, the raven accelerates and dives forward to thrust at the eagle's tail. The eagle crumples one huge wing, yawing out of reach of its harasser. It then regains its balance and composure, continuing high above the canyon floor, an imperial being that dwarfs the petty raven. The two birds draw dark lines against the sunburned sandstone as they round a bend in the canyon.

I have just seen one of Arizona's resident golden eagles, and I am thrilled by the sheer size of the bird with its wingspan of six feet plus. Arizonans are lucky to have both of America's eagles breeding here, although the bald eagle is much rarer and less distributed in the state than the golden eagle, which also can be found from the Canadian arctic south to Mexico, as well as in Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Although not as flashy as the bald eagle, Aquila chrysaetos has a special presence that led many Native American tribes, including the Hopi, to incorporate the bird into their religious ceremonies. And in medieval Europe, only kings and emperors were permitted to fly golden eagles that had been trained by court falconers.

Breeding golden eagles in Arizona and elsewhere often build their bulky stick nests on inaccessible cliff alcoves in canyons and mountains. As soon as a female lays an egg, she begins to incubate it before laying a second egg a few days later. As a result, the two eggs hatch several days apart, giving the first-hatched chick time to grow before it is joined by its little sibling. The unfortunate junior chick often dies after a week or two of relentless bullying by its bigger brother or sister, whose attacks are calmly tolerated by the parents. By countenancing fratricide when food is scarce, nesting eagles may actually improve their chances of having at least one surviving offspring, which will require many jackrabbit meals before it says good-bye to its parents. In really hungry years, the parent eagles may even abandon both eaglets to assure survival of the adults.Golden eagles weigh seven to 11 pounds and have correspondingly hearty appetites. Even though eagles reputedly can see a jackrabbit a half mile away, a pair may still require a 60-square-mile feeding preserve to keep themselves and even one offspring alive.

Getting past the nestling phase is not the only obstacle eagles have to overcome. During the 20th century, golden eagles in the West have had to deal with more and more people and their domestic livestock. The sight of a golden eagle perched on a dead lamb inspired many a Western sheepman to take up arms against eagles in general. One such sheepman commented in the 1930s, "We do not know what eagles killed them, so we kill all the eagles we can." He wasn't kidding. Between 1942 and 1962, an estimated 20,000 golden eagles were legally killed by Western ranchers who often paid bounty hunters to gun down these magnificent animals from small planes. Researchers have now firmly established that golden eagles almost never kill lambs, far preferring jackrabbits, which make up more than 70 percent of their food in some places. Thus the United States Congress did the right thing in 1962 when it finally gave golden eagles the protection it had bestowed on bald eagles in 1940. By the 1960s, the combination of aerial hunting, trapping, poison baiting, and inadvertent DDT poisoning had reduced golden eagle populations substantially, but now there are probably between 130,000 and 200,000 golden eagles in North America, according to Steve Hoffmann of the organization called Hawk Watch.

Members of Hawk Watch monitor migrating populations of raptors at a number of vantage points throughout the West. At one spot on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Hawk Watchers usually tally 30 to 40 migrant golden eagles during each fall and spring along with 5,000 to 8,000 hawks. By comparing the totals seen from year to year, Hoffmann and his helpers can tell if a species has begun to decline. They report that as of late 1995, golden eagles are holding their own in some places, with population numbers falling somewhat in others.The golden eagle remains part of our natural heritage, independent, imperious, in complete command of the skies, a sight fit for kings, emperors, and the rest of us.