By Bernheim
Athena, a female golden eagle tracked by Bernheim Forest and Arboretum for nearly seven years (2,509 days), has returned and settled into her winter home range. During the annual cycle of 2025, she has visited at least 95 individual protected areas across the United States and Canada, demonstrating her reliance on key habitats across eastern North America.
Throughout the year, her GPS transmitter recorded 21,003 data points, documenting her movements from the winter forests of Kentucky to the remote coastal lowlands of northern Manitoba and back again. In total, Athena traveled 6,455 miles between January 1 and December 9, 2025. The ongoing tracking, conducted by Bernheim and research partners, offers valuable insight into her seasonal behaviors and the challenges she faces across her migratory corridor.
“It’s amazing that Athena’s transmitter is still operational and that she continues to maintain two distinct migratory paths as she returns to the same nesting and wintering areas each year,” explained Andrew Berry, Director of Conservation at Bernheim Forest and Arboretum. “We are excited to welcome her back to Bernheim as we continue learning about her habitats on the winter range and how eastern golden eagles survive across such vast landscapes during their annual cycle.”
Wintering at Bernheim
During her wintering periods in the Bernheim region from November through early March, Athena moves across upland forests, ridges, wetlands, and prairie openings, taking advantage of the rugged topography and thermals that characterize the area. These features allow her to conserve energy while soaring, and the region’s large forest blocks offer the sense of wilderness and seclusion that golden eagles depend upon. Her consistent return to this landscape reflects Bernheim’s importance as a safe and resource-abundant winter refuge.
A look back at Spring Migration 2025
Athena departed Bernheim on March 9, beginning her spring migration, a journey that ultimately took 1,909-miles before reaching her nesting home range in Canada. On the first day of migration, she paused in the interior forests of Yellowwood State Forest in Brown County, Ind., a familiar stopover to roost before committing to a more direct northeast trajectory.
As seasonal weather systems brought southerly winds, Athena used these tailwinds to gain speed and efficiency, ultimately crossing the Straits of Mackinac and passing to the east of Lake Superior. Spring migration is a period when she relies heavily on thermal lifts and advantageous wind patterns, covering long distances with minimal energy costs. Data has shown how she uses thermals to reach high elevations and then soars on the long descent.
Upon reaching the transition zone between boreal forest and tundra in Wapusk National Park, Athena settled into her summer home range beginning April 5, traveling a total of 2,113 miles during this spring migration period.
Summer in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada
This summer home range season involves extensive daily travel as Athena defends territory and searches for prey across a vast and open landscape. Activity is centered around her long-established nesting territory, where she moved across a mosaic of coastal lowlands, lakes, wetlands, open tundra, and boreal forest edges. She showed strong site fidelity, returning to many of the same locations used in prior years.
Fall Migration: The Journey South
Athena began her fall migration on October 20, leaving northern Manitoba and traveling a total of 1,844 miles during the southern flight to her familiar winter range at Bernheim. She crossed into Ontario before navigating the long expanse of boreal forest that leads to the western tip of Lake Superior. Reaching Duluth, Minn., on November 8, she likely took advantage of the uplift and migration corridors shaped by the lake’s shoreline and weather systems.
On November 9, she moved into the Driftless region of Wisconsin, a landscape of forested ridges and valleys ideal for resting and feeding to prepare for the final leg of the journey. As she continued south through the Midwest, most of her route passed through Illinois, where she faced agricultural lands, wind energy infrastructure, and increased human activity that present elevated risks during this leg of the journey, including potential exposure to lead from deer carcasses, making this one of the more challenging stretches of her annual cycle.
Partners and Supporters
This long-term research is made possible through the crucial support of partners and sponsors, including the Judge Boyce Martin Jr. Birds of Bernheim sponsors, the Beckham Bird Club, the Kentucky Audubon Council, Cellular Tracking Technologies, Conservation Science Global, Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group, and other dedicated supporters of Bernheim, whose contributions make this long-term golden eagle research possible. To learn more about Eastern Golden Eagles, check out the Eastern Golden Eagle Conservation Plan published in 2023.
Read more updates on golden eagles at Bernheim.
