Forest cover influences the movement and behaviour of GPS ‐tagged Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos ): insights from flight characteristics and perch site selection

Habitat selection can vary substantially depending on species‐specific and behaviour‐specific resource requirements. Identifying these resources and gaining a detailed understanding of their importance can inform effective conservation actions and contribute to assessing the impacts of environmental change. In Scotland, upland land use is changing, with increased afforestation, renewable energy developments and tourist recreation. Currently, the Scottish government aims to increase tree cover from 19% (2024) to 21% of the area of Scotland by 2032, primarily with commercial non‐native conifers. However, the impact of such changes on Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos is not fully understood. We aimed to determine how forest cover (including broadleaved, conifer, clearfell and young trees) influenced the spatial ecology of 15 GPS‐tagged, range‐holding Golden Eagles tracked between 2015 and 2022. Three key movement measures were calculated from the GPS data: duration spent within a habitat, flight altitude above ground level and perch site selection. Generalized linear mixed models were used to determine how environmental and topographic variables influenced these movement measures. We found that Golden Eagles preferred open habitat and avoided areas of forest. They spent less time in, and were 30% more likely to fly at, higher altitudes over forest habitats. This was particularly evident in areas of commercial forestry, which were typically dense monocultures of exotic species. The avoidance of all growth stages of commercial forestry involving exotic conifers (including clearfell and young trees) is a novel finding. Despite a greater proportion of perches located in open areas overall, based on availability, Golden Eagles also preferred perch locations in broadleaved habitat despite being a relatively scarce habitat type (58% probability of selection, 10% more than open and 20% more than other forest habitat). Our results suggest that future commercial afforestation, planted in open areas of high topographic suitability for Golden Eagles, is likely to result in functional habitat loss through displacement. However, our results, alongside the use of the Golden Eagle Topography (GET) model, can be used to minimize such loss if incorporated into forest planning schemes, especially if areas of GET scores below 6 are prioritized for planting.