Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

Abundance: Very Uncommon (records from 15 counties, 4 in Kentucky and 11 in Tennessee).

Status: Permanent Resident; breeding confirmed in one Tennessee county during 1990s; breeding suspected in one or two Tennessee county during 2000s and, historically, in two counties of Tennessee during 1930s; most birds are Winter Residents or Transients; designated as threatened by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency; photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 3 (2 observations below).

Information on Records: 

February 1927/[27 &] 31 May 1927 (1?/2--age unspecified but probably adults for latter date) Buffalo Cove, Fentress County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1931; Nicholson 1981).

[31 May or] 1 June 1930 (3) Gwinn Cove, Fentress County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1931; Nicholson 1981).

4 January 1934 (1 killed--age unspecified) c. 16 km north of Carthage, probably Smith County, Tennessee (fide Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1934a).

13 May 1951 (1) Standing Stone State Park, Overton County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier et al.; Ganier 1951a).

2 March 1977 (1--adult) Pickett County, Tennessee (observer not noted; Nicholson 1982a).

1 January 1978 (1--adult) Byrdstown, Pickett County, Tennessee (Robbie C. Hassler; Bierly 1978b; Nicholson 1982a).

Early January 1983 [date possibly a few months earlier] (2--adults) Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (TWRA personnel; Nicholson 1983).

8 January 1983 (1--immature) Jackson County, Tennessee (Michael C. DeFosche, Donald Norris); Stedman 1988c).

4 December 1986 (1--immature) Wartrace Creek, Jackson/Macon county line, Tennessee (Michael C. DeFosche; Stedman 1988c).

4 January & 7 February 1988 (1--immature) Jackson County, Tennessee (Michael C. DeFosche, Candy Swan; Stedman 1988c).

13 October 1990 (1--adult) Indian Creek, Smith County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman [photo] et al.), photo.

Summer 1993 (nest) Jackson County, Tennessee (Stephen Hurst; Witt 1993b).

8 November 1995 (1--immature) near intersection of Rt. 70 and Dry Valley Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman unpubl. data).

27 November 1996 (1--subadult) Green River Lake, Adair County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer, Jamie Baker photo; Busroe 1997a).

31 January 1998 (1--age unspecified) Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon; Knight 1998b).

Early February/11 February 1998 (1--juvenile) on Cumberland River near state line, Clay County, Tennessee/Stone Farm on Stone Rd., Clay County, Tennessee (Danny Stone photo, Harold Stone unpubl. data/David L. Roemer unpubl. data).

20 February 2000 (1--adult) Algood, Putnam County, Tennessee (Wally Brines unpubl. data).

30 December 2000 (1--immature) Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky (fide Roseanna M.Denton; Ferrell 2001), CBC record

29 November 2003 (1--near adult or subadult) Scott County Reservoir, Scott County, Tennessee (Jimi Moore, Nell Moore, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

12 March 2004 (2) eastern Smith County, Tennessee (Susan Hollyday fide Phillip Casteel).

27 December 2004 (1--subadult) Intersection Rt. 92 and Twyford's Point Rd., Wayne County, Kentucky (Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data), CBC record.

4 February 2005 (1--immature) Bullington Lane, Jackson County, Tennessee (Nancy S. Layzer unpubl. data).

19 December 2005 (2) Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee (David M. Engebretson, Michael E. Hodge unpubl. data).

10 February 2007 (1--juvenile) Green River Wildlife Management Area, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

23 September 2007 (3--2 adults and a juvenile/immature or subadult) Caney Fork River 2-3 km upriver from confluence with Cumberland River, Smith County, Tennessee (Tim Flick, Steven DeBlois photo [2 individuals] and unpubl. data).

18 December 2007 (1--adult) Procter Creek Rd., Clay County, Tennessee (Roseanna M. Denton photo, Arlene M. Morton unpubl. data), a CBC record.

16 November 2008 (1--juvenile) Rt. 1676, Mt. Zion, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

21 March 2009 (2--juveniles) Dry Creek Overlook area, Daniel Boone National Forest, McCreary County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). See Witt (1993b) for basic information about the Jackson County record, verified by T. Ettel (pers. com.). The Smith County record is inferred from the date when found and from the ages of the three eagles involved in the sighting.

Habitat: Winters infrequently in the less inhabited sections of the Region, but may migrate near almost any site Regionally.

Remarks: Ganier and Clebsch (1940) report sightings of this eagle in Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren County, Tennessee, prior to June 1937.  Ganier (1931, 1937) describes sightings of Golden Eagles in Fentress County, Tennessee, that suggest local breeding.  Lee and Spofford (1990) contend that these sightings are invalid and that no documented nesting by Golden Eagles took place at these sites or at any sites in the central and southern Appalachians during historical times.  The nesting in Jackson County, Tennessee, in 1993 contravened the argument of Lee and Spofford (but it involved one bird that had been hacked from a site in Georgia).

    Alsop (undated [1980]) indicates a record in Morgan County, Tennessee. Quite a few records from mid-winter eagle surveys in the Region are not yet reflected in the data above.

    A captive Golden Eagle was confiscated in Clay County, Tennessee, 4 July 1935, but no information about the bird's origin was obtained (Reed 1935). 

Counties with Observations (boldfaced blue) or Recent Breeding Records (green):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited