Decorah Eagle Observation Project

We will perform observations on bald eagles, via a web cam. We are observing the bald eagle, (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) based on past research assignments and the number of webcams available. In the past, other animal web sites were used but you could not identify individuals or identify discrete behaviors. Similarly, zoo cams were not found to be useful for the following reasons: natural selection is not a major factor and there was too much variability in the quality of sites. First, you must identify a bald eagle population for your project. Only after you have built a catalog of possible behaviors for your eagle, will you be ready to quantify those behaviors in terms of frequency, duration, and context and create a time budget for your eagle population. You will observe your animal for 5 hours. Eagle log must include: Date; Start time: End Time; Weather conditions; Eagles Present? (Y or N, if N, then watch for a few mins- no longer than three to see if they come back.) Behavior duration in minutes; Notes Final report will include information about species, population, site information, any interesting observations, and a budget chart; example you see a behavior for 10 minutes divide that by total observational minutes – 300 min. = 10/300= 3% of time. Please use a colored pie chart to identify behaviors.