The Golden Eagle Reintroduction Project

The Golden Eagle Reintroduction Project has released 46 Birds in Donegal 2001-2006.  4 more birds have been collected in 2007 and due to be released in mid August.  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.

The Golden Eagle donor stock was collected from Scotland under a special licence from Scottish Natural Heritage.  Only one chick can be collected from nests containing two young.  Every year scores of bird of prey enthusiasts help monitor potential donor stock nests.  The Scottish Raptor Study Group, the Highland Foundation for Wildlife, the Forestry Commission, the National Trust for Scotland, and the Royal Society for the Protection of birds have all played a key role in collecting young.  The Irish Golden Eagle Reintroduction Steering Group would also like to thank all the Scottish landowners, deerstalkers and gamekeepers who have supported the project to date.

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 breeding female 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 autumn/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.

                     For further details contact:

Lorcán O Toole,               or             Joe Gatins
Project Manger                                 Regional Manager
Golden Eagle Trust Ltd                      National Parks and Wildlife Service
Churchill, Co Donegal                        Glenveagh National Park

TEL: 074 9137070                              TEL:  074 9137090      
 087 1310177                                      087 2646417