First Wild Golden Eagle Chicks in 100 Years

Golden Eagles last bred in Glenveagh, Donegal in 1910 and became extinct in Ireland after the last breeding attempt in County Mayo in 1912.  The adult eagles were reintroduced into Glenveagh National Park as part of the Golden Eagle reintroduction programme, which commenced in Glenveagh National Park in 2001.  The Golden Eagle Trust Ltd and the National Parks and Wildlife Service are managing the project.  The project began with funding from the National Millennium Committee in 2000 and has been funded since by EU LIFE , the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government,  the Heritage Council and others.

 Golden Eagles first nested and laid eggs in Donegal in 2005 and again in 2006 but this year’s nest has produced young for the first time. The nest is in a remote area within the boundary of Glenveagh National Park. The exact location of the nest has not been revealed to the public in order to minimise disturbance to the birds.  Glenveagh National Park management urge visitors to the Park not seek out the eyrie.

The nest hatched two chicks but as normally happens the second chick died after five days.  There will be a further nervous wait of 7-8 weeks to see if the remaining chick can continue to grow and hopefully fledge in late July.

The breeding adults were collected as chicks, under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage, from the Highlands of Scotland.  A total of 46 eagles have so far been released. The mother eagle in Glenveagh was collected in 2001, from Assyant in Sutherland.  She  nested elsewhere in Donegal in 2005 but her single egg did not hatch and she failed to breed in 2006. The male  was collected from the Isle of Skye in 2002.  He established his territory in Glenveagh in the early winter of 2005 and built a nest on his own in 2006.  The pair was first spotted together on the 1st August 2006 and they have been together since.

Despite the set back of losing a breeding male last winter from the two breeding pairs in 2006, Golden Eagles have shown tentative signs of re-establishing themselves in Donegal.  A second pair also laid eggs in 2007.  3 other young pairs were seen in further locations and hopefully will establish territories in the coming years.  A single male defended a sixth territory this year.  A single sighting of a pair of eagles in Connacht may also be the first putative sign of birds spreading outside of Donegal.

The Golden Eagle Reintroduction Project has released 46 Birds in Donegal 2001-2006.
Young chicks were collected from nests in Scotland and reared in avian cages, without human contact, for a further 5-7 weeks before being released.

Radio tracking has enabled the project team to track the young birds as they disperse.  One of the chicks fitted with a satellite tag in 2005 has been tracked over the last few years and has spent some considerable time in the Sperrin Mountains, Northern Ireland and in Ballycroy National Park in Mayo.  This bird has been recorded in Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Sligo and Mayo.

 Golden Eagles can live up to 30 years.  They normally take 4-6 years to breed and can produce young for up to 20 years.

Golden Eagle eggs are incubated for 6 weeks (42 days) and the chicks can take up to 12 weeks (84 days) to fledge.

 For further details contact:

 Lorcán O Toole, Golden Eagle Trust Ltd  TEL: 074 9137070 

Joe Gattins     TEL:    074 9137090 or 087 2646417