Red-tailed hawk. NPS/A. Schonlau.
The 2022 season
Rocky Mountain National Park's raptor monitoring ran from February 21 to August 12, 2022: 51 sessions at seven areas, covering 17 rock formations, and 407 hours of staff and volunteer time — just under 2021's 416 but well above the 10-year average of about 300.
Results: two chicks fledged on Lumpy Ridge — a red-tailed hawk and a golden eagle. That may sound low, but most raptors raise only one chick a season; the Lumpy Ridge record is seven (2004), and 2016–2019 produced none. Because the golden eagle chick hatched late, temporary climbing closures near its nest were extended; several others were lifted early where no nesting was seen.
| Area | Surveys | Breeding or nesting | Management |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Owls / Batman | 9 | peregrine falcon and kestrel breeding behavior | closure lifted early, June 3 |
| Thunder | 16 | golden eagle chick confirmed July 17, fledged July 29, flight training by August 12 | closures extended to August 15 |
| The Book | 14 | red-tailed hawks fledged one chick (seen July 1) | closure lifted July 31 |
| Sundance | 4 | peregrine and golden eagle breeding behavior | extended to August 15 (near the eagle nest) |
| Cathedral Wall | 3 | none | lifted early, July 22 |
| Arch Rocks | 2 | peregrines nesting June 2; no fledglings seen | no closure |
| Lawn Lake Trailhead | 3 | none | no closure |
Species seen included golden and bald eagles, peregrine and prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks, American kestrels and an osprey.
Lumpy Ridge, a favorite raptor nesting area. NPS.
Long-term trends at Lumpy Ridge
Five raptor species have fledged young here since monitoring began:
- Golden eagle: usually at least one fledgling a year from 1989 to 2001; since 2002 only intermittently (2004, 2008, 2010), then one each year 2020–2022.
- Prairie falcon: fledglings in many years from 1996 to 2008, none since.
- Red-tailed hawk: only three ever — 1998, 2020 and 2022.
- Peregrine falcon: first fledglings in 1998, a year before the species came off the Endangered Species List; since then only 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2020.
- Cooper's hawk: bred 2004–2008, not since.
Overall, fledglings have declined since 2008. In 2020, when the park was largely closed for COVID-19 during the breeding season, six fledged — including the most peregrine fledglings on record. Weather, food, disease and predation all matter, but the pattern raises the question of whether recreation outside the closures disturbs nesting raptors. The park will keep collecting data to guide protection.
More: the park's raptor monitoring program, raptors of the park and raptor closures.
Sources
Based on "Raptor Monitoring Surveys 2022," Rocky Mountain National Park, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
In these publicationsRocky Mountain National Park
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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