Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
nesting and foraging habitat has been attributed to development and clean farming practices. Both species have responded to installation of nest boxes in western North Carolina. • Golden Eagle populations are reportedly declining in North America (Katzner et al. 2012) . Since 2013, studies that used camera surveys and GPS tracking have revealed the importance of the North Carolina mountains as overwintering grounds for the Golden Eagle. Understanding of the Golden Eagle’s migration and winter range in the Appalachians has greatly improved with efforts of the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group. Golden Eagles are threatened by habitat loss (particularly remote openings in forested landscapes in the mountains), collisions with wind energy infrastructure, lead poisoning, and bycatch in furbearer foothold traps. • The Northern Saw-whet Owl breeds in North Carolina’s Spruce-Fir and northern hardwood forests, but its population trends in the state are unknown. The logging boom of the 1880s–1930s reduced North Carolina’s Spruce-Fir forests by half, and Balsam Woolly Adelgid subsequently caused extensive mortality of mature Fraser Fir forests. Biologists have used bioacoustics monitoring equipment in the western part of the state to record owl calls. The detections help increase the number of North Carolina records for the species. The Northern Saw-whet Owl also occurs in Coastal Plain habitats in the winter, but the importance and extent of this area are unknown. • The Bald Eagle continues its recovery after being delisted from the endangered species list by the USFWS in 2007. Periodic efforts to monitor populations are continuing to ensure future positive population trends. McClure (et al. 2022) reported the Bald Eagle as a species with overall increasing abundances from migration counts for 2009 to 2019. According to McClure (et al. 2022) , the status of raptors across the United States is generally secure. However, conservation priorities were recommended for updating population trend and status assessment methods. Lead poisoning, rodenticides, energy infrastructure (especially wind turbines), and climate change are noted to be primary threats to raptor populations (McClure et al. 2022) . 3.3.4 Knowledge Gaps Many of our distribution and population trend knowledge gaps stem from those species that are not well-surveyed by traditional road-based methods (i.e., USGS Breeding Bird Surveys, Audubon Christmas Bird Count). In many cases, more research into the life history traits and habitat requirements of species is required to properly inform habitat management practices, identify areas for conservation, and resolve human–animal conflicts.
Table 3-2 Bird SGCN and Priority Species (see Appendix 3) includes knowledge gap priority species; the following information provides highlights about species for which there are research needs.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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