Ringing Date: 28th June 2008
Nest Location: Eastern Cairngorms
BTO Ring Number: ZZ1417
Satellite Radio Number: 84132
Sex: Male
Measurements: Wing 340mm; Tail 140mm; Hind Claw 39.6mm
Weight: Unknown
General
Tom is the name we gave to a young male golden eagle we satellite tagged in 2008 in the Eastern Cairngorms at a secluded nest. Eaglets in this eyrie do not see walkers passing by, so this gave us chicks from ‘quiet’ and ‘busy’ eyries for our study of the cultural behaviour of golden eagles in the Cairngorms National Park. This was a successful pair of eagles, which regularly rear young.
On 28th June, we went to the nesting site in the evening and caught the young eagle. Lorcan O’Toole climbed down into the eyrie and placed him back in the nest before we departed. He was in excellent condition, but probably two weeks later than the Glenfeshie chick Angus.
Tom was satellite tagged as part of the RaptorTrack programme. This is a partnership programme between the Highland Foundation for Wildlife, the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB and private estates within the park, and has its own website: www.raptortrack.org.
Annual Movements
After fledging the nest in late July, Tom spent the rest of the year ranging within a 4 sq mile radius of the nest. In March 2009 he finally left his parents’ home range and flew across the Cairngorms into Perthshire. In April he settled down in the mountains on the Badenoch/Perthshire border and then spent the summer in this region. Tom lived in a very remote area, perhaps due to cultural behaviour resulting from being born in a secluded eyrie. In February 2010 he moved briefly into Angus, before spending the rest of the year in his usual haunts on the Badenoch/Perthshire border, mostly on the Glenfeshie and Gaick estates. He spent the rest of the year there, ranging only slightly away from this area, and remained there into 2011. Sadly, from March 20th 2011 we received no more signals from him. We hope that it is only that he somehow lost his transmitter and will continue maturing into an adult golden eagle. Tom provided us with three years of very informative data on the movements of a newly fledged golden eagle.
Movements and range of Tom in 2011
Movements and range of Tom in 2010
Movements and range of Tom in 2009
Movements and range of Tom in 2008
To view details of Tom’s movements click on the relevant link:
Tom 2011 | Tom 2010 | Tom 2009 | Tom 2008
Reproductive History
Tom did not reach breeding age during our studies.
