ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF NESTING GOLDEN EAGLES IN HUDSON-BAY, QUEBEC

Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) were surveyed between 1990 and 1993 in a 19 500 km(2) area in the Hudson Bay region of northern Quebec. We found 20 nesting areas containing 31 nests. This doubles the number o f known nesting pairs in eastern North America. Pair density was 1.04 per 1000 km(2) and appears to be lower than in other northern regions. All nests were on cliffs and 87.1% were exposed toward the south or s outhwest. Sixteen nests (53.3%) had overhangs. Nest and cliff heights averaged respectively 37.2 and 71.9 m. Productivity seems to be lower than that of other populations in North America.