Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

Abundance: Very Uncommon; recorded in 18 Regional counties, 5 in Kentucky and 13 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the small populations wintering in, migrating through, and breeding in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Winter Resident or Transient mainly; a few Permanent Resident birds, based on breeding of Georgia-hacked birds in one Tennessee and Regional county (Jackson, Tennessee) during 1990s and early 2000s (Wheeler 2003); breeding suspected in one additional Tennessee county during 2000s and, historically, in two Tennessee counties during the 1930s, but the latter suspicion is not grounded in evidence; 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).

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).

20 February 2000 (1—adult) Algood, Putnam County, Tennessee (Wally Brines).

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).

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), CBC record.

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

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

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

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]).

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

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

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

1 January 2010 (1—juvenile) northern Pulaski County, Kentucky (Steve Denton, Roseanna M. Denton), a CBC record.

25 December 2010 (1—subadult) near Bailey's Point, Barren River Reservoir, Allen/Barren counties, Kentucky (David L. Roemer, Joanie Roemer).

28 December 2010 (1—juvenile) DeKalb County, Tennessee (Michael J. Hawkins, Carol D. Williams), a CBC record.

19 January 2013 (1) Cumberland County, Tennessee (fide Scott G. Somershoe [TWRA]).

2 January 2016 (1) Warren County, Tennessee (Susan N. McWhirter, N. P. "Mac" McWhirter), a CBC record.

May 2016 (1 at carcass) Rt. 111, White County, Tennessee (eBird reporter).

3 June 2016 (1 adult) near Morrison, Warren County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman), a Warren County Foray record.

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.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

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 and during at least four years thereafter (1994, 1996, 2000, and 2001) contravened the argument of Lee and Spofford (but it involved at least 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). 

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited