February 2025 Program – The Golden Eagle Highway: Tracking Eagles Captured Along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front

Presented by Rob Domenech

Join us on Monday, February 10th at 7pm to hear Rob Domenech, Executive Director of the Raptor View Research Institute (RVRI), give a brief history of RVRI’s long-term research on Golden Eagles, and talk about some of Institute’s research projects and results. These include collecting blood samples from Golden Eagles in west-central Montana to determine lead levels in these birds, wing-tagging of these eagles and compiling a record of subsequent tag encounters, and satellite telemetry tracking of their movements.

Domenech graduated from the University of Montana in 2002 in Wildlife Biology, where he had focused his research on raptors. Prior to finishing his studies, he had travelled throughout western Montana for much of the 1990s, scouting for suitable sites to establish the first fall raptor migration ridgeline banding study in Montana. In 2004 he founded RVRI to facilitate his continuing research on raptors and their migration.

Domenech is one of the country’s leading authorities on Golden Eagle and Osprey ecology. His work includes standardized migration counts, satellite telemetry, wing-tagging and color-banding, eco-toxicology studies, and more. RVRI’s data have contributed to over a dozen publications in top-tier scientific journals. When not in the field, you can find Rob walking his two dogs, rescuing raptors for Wild Skies Raptor Rehab, and practicing jujutsu.

Our meetings are available both in person and virtually. For those attending the meeting in person on February 10th, we’ll meet in Room 26 of the Gateway Community Center at 7pm. This room is located on the east side of the building along Glenwood Drive. Look for our banner outside.

For those joining virtually, when you use the link, you will be let into a “waiting room” where you will then be added to the meeting by the host. Please sign in with your name when you enter the room, so we know to admit you. You will be muted when you first join the meeting. You can use your computer’s microphone and speakers (most computers have both). This is the preferred way to join. You can also get an audio connection to the meeting without the Zoom capability by using your phone. For more information on how to attend by Zoom, or how to get an audio connection by phone, contact info@flatheadaudubon.org.