{"pk":59074,"title":"Activity Patterns of Golden Eagles in San Benito County, CA","subtitle":null,"abstract":"The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a top predator of lagomorphs and ground squirrels in open, mountainous habitats in western North America. It is currently listed as a species of concern by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. Understanding the diel and seasonal use of water could enhance conservation of this important species. I quantified the visits (N=402) of golden eagles to 13 water sources using camera trap photo data obtained at the Ventana Ranch, San Benito County, California. Frequency of occurrence was analyzed by the Chi-square test to confirm diel and seasonal activity patterns. Golden eagle activity peaked between 10am and 5pm PST; there were no nocturnal visits to water sources. Bathing and drinking were noted at 32% and 14% of visits, respectively. Visits were rare during the Spring-breeding season and peaked in the hot months of July and August when both adults and juveniles were detected.","language":"en","license":null,"keywords":[{"word":"Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, activity pattern, habitat preference, San Benito County, California"}],"section":"Research","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6441z901","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Taichi","middle_name":"","last_name":"Natake","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, Berkeley","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2013-10-23T07:17:35Z","date_accepted":"2013-10-23T07:17:35Z","date_published":"2013-10-25T07:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/our_bsj/article/59074/galley/45102/download/"}]}