Navigating the Land and Sky: Landscape Utilization Strategies in Juvenile Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) during the first weeks of the dispersal period

An evolutionary advantage in a world subject to change is the capacity of species to explore and survive in unfamiliar landscapes. Yet, little is known about how species select landscape features based on their individual experiences, despite this choice potentially playing a significant role in individual survival. As large soaring raptors covering large distances and thus more likely to experience a wide variety of landscapes, juvenile Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) provide a compelling case study. In my master’s thesis, I used GPS data from 46 tagged individuals to identify different Landscape Utilization Strategies, that are combinations of topographic, human and vegetal landscape features. I then compared the strategies of the pre-dispersal and dispersal periods. Three distinct Landscape Utilization Strategies were found: the ‘Rangetop Strategy’, the ‘Forest Strategy’, and the ‘Anthropized Valley Strategy’, with variations over time within and between individuals, particularly between specialists and generalists adopting different strategies during dispersal. Prior experiences of the landscape were found to determine the Landscape Utilization Strategy during dispersal. In my presentation, I discuss the potential causes and consequences of these different strategies.