What is on this Eagle's back?

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Hooligans Imagery

Hooligans Imagery

Michael H
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Went to Gilbert Riparian Preserve yesterday and found this pair building a nest. This morning in many images I see this device on the one eagle. I'll process the images later but wanted to ask if this is some sort of tracking device. Looks like a cell phone almost.

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I'm pretty sure it's the same as this seen on an Ibis in Florida recently.
I've railed before about how invasive the tracking of wild animals is becoming. Seems there is no limit to how much the scientists are willing to ruin the lives of animals that they track. There comes a time when we have to say ENOUGH. We humans have the brains to find better ways to do this. All it takes is some thinking.

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Rassie said:
I'm pretty sure it's the same as this seen on an Ibis in Florida recently.
I've railed before about how invasive the tracking of wild animals is becoming. Seems there is no limit to how much the scientists are willing to ruin the lives of animals that they track. There comes a time when we have to say ENOUGH. We humans have the brains to find better ways to do this. All it takes is some thinking.
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They're not ruining the lives of the birds. As you can see from the photographs the eagle has a partner and BakingBeans said they're building a nest -- perfectly normal behavior. Many of these tracking units are glued to a feather and are lost when the bird molts, others are held on by a harness with a timed release, others are removed by recapturing the bird. Do you wear a watch, a wedding ring, a belt, a tie, any of them or perhaps all of them? Has your life been ruined by what you wear? Oh, and your cell phone is tracking you wherever you go.
 
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Woody Meristem said:
They're not ruining the lives of the birds. As you can see from the photographs the eagle has a partner and BakingBeans said they're building a nest -- perfectly normal behavior. Many of these tracking units are glued to a feather and are lost when the bird molts, others are held on by a harness with a timed release, others are removed by recapturing the bird. Do you wear a watch, a wedding ring, a belt, a tie, any of them or perhaps all of them? Has your life been ruined by what you wear? Oh, and your cell phone is tracking you wherever you go.
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Woody, you've made some valid points about this before, and now again. So I'll give you that.
As for what I wear, it's all voluntary. The animals don't have a choice, plus they don't understand the necessity of what we do to them. What I'm advocating for is to find less intrusive, unsightly ways of tracking animals. I'm hopeful that the appropriate tech already exists, someone needs to put on a thinking cap and adapt it to tracking animals.

On a side note - as for a tie, I loathe them. A piece of clothing for me has to serve a specific purpose and a tie does not, other than the aesthetic. Women's clothing fashion keeps evolving, but men have been stuck with the same formal wear for probably over 100 years now.
 
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Michael, I suspect it’s a tracking device. I regularly send images of eagles and ospreys to Dr. Bryan Watts at William & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) In Williamsburg. The CCB is epicenter for eagle/osprey research in the Mid Atlantic region. I suggest you send these images to him. You can be more forthcoming with details as to location, etc., than you care to share in this forum….. just a thought…

If I send them (not without your permission), he would likely want more info I don’t know…… Great shots by the way…👍
 
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Larry S. said:
Michael, I suspect it’s a tracking device. I regularly send images of eagles and ospreys to Dr. Bryan Watts at William & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) In Williamsburg. The CCB is epicenter for eagle/osprey research in the Mid Atlantic region. I suggest you send these images to him. You can be more forthcoming with details as to location, etc., than you care to share in this forum….. just a thought…

If I send them (not without your permission), he would likely want more info I don’t know…… Great shots by the way…👍
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I was in Gilbert AZ so not the same region. And now I see that same Eagle is banded on both legs.

 
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Woody Meristem said:
They're not ruining the lives of the birds. As you can see from the photographs the eagle has a partner and BakingBeans said they're building a nest -- perfectly normal behavior. Many of these tracking units are glued to a feather and are lost when the bird molts, others are held on by a harness with a timed release, others are removed by recapturing the bird. Do you wear a watch, a wedding ring, a belt, a tie, any of them or perhaps all of them? Has your life been ruined by what you wear? Oh, and your cell phone is tracking you wherever you go.
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Funny enough, of all those items, I wear only a belt and would skip that if I could get away with it.
 
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Rassie said:
On a side note - as for a tie, I loathe them. A piece of clothing for me has to serve a specific purpose and a tie does not, other than the aesthetic. Women's clothing fashion keeps evolving, but men have been stuck with the same formal wear for probably over 100 years now.
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We're in perfect agreement about the tie except I've never worn one voluntarily, only when I ABSOLUTELY had to (probably less than 100 times in the last 50 years).
 
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From what I know Az Game and Fish sometimes place GPS monitors on eaglets in accessible nests before they fledge. There is a considerable effort ongoing to help study and support the bald eagle population in Arizona. The desert dwelling eagles here tend to be a little smaller than the eagles in northern states. It looks typical of the ones I’ve observed. If it’s from one of those nests, then that monitor has been there for at least 4-5 years.
 
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Rassie said:
On a side note - as for a tie, I loathe them. A piece of clothing for me has to serve a specific purpose and a tie does not, other than the aesthetic. Women's clothing fashion keeps evolving, but men have been stuck with the same formal wear for probably over 100 years now.
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I agree…haven’t worn a tie since my last day on active duty before retiring on Groundhog Day in the 1990s…and my son even picked out a tux without a tie for me when he got married.
 
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jdinny said:
Lol, current adminsitration is putting ankle bands on cattle?
Can't figure that one out.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
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It’s pretty cool tech… in fact, it’s been around for 40 years; nice to see greater adoption.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Wearable Wireless Biosensor Technology for Monitoring Cattle: A Review

The wearable wireless sensor system plays a crucial role in providing behavioral and physiological data for each individual in precision livestock farming. This article reviewed the most types of sensor systems available in the market and summarized detailed ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
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Rassie said:
Woody, you've made some valid points about this before, and now again. So I'll give you that.
As for what I wear, it's all voluntary. The animals don't have a choice, plus they don't understand the necessity of what we do to them. What I'm advocating for is to find less intrusive, unsightly ways of tracking animals. I'm hopeful that the appropriate tech already exists, someone needs to put on a thinking cap and adapt it to tracking animals.

On a side note - as for a tie, I loathe them. A piece of clothing for me has to serve a specific purpose and a tie does not, other than the aesthetic. Women's clothing fashion keeps evolving, but men have been stuck with the same formal wear for probably over 100 years now.
Click to expand...
I agree 1000% that animal tracking in the name of science often is too intrusive. I’m a big supporter of scientific research, but sometimes it simply seems to go too far. Banding is one thing but the many collars and radio transmitters seem a bit much at times. Just look at the many elk, bears, moose, wolves, and coyotes one sees in Yellowstone these days, and it’s easy to conclude that perhaps it should be scaled back. Some of the bears have been collared multiple times throughout their lives - 399 for example. It’s not all scientists though - fish and game are equally guilty, if not more so.
 
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