Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) are important top-tier predators in forested ecosystems, often thought to be closely tied to old-growth forests and sensitive to disturbance. Despite research contributing to the understanding of goshawk ecology in various ecoregions, there are gaps in the understanding of space use for the species, especially in the winter months, and particularly in Nevada’s Great Basin. To address these gaps and explore space use in a habitat that differs from that explored in prior studies, over the course of our study (mid-summer 2017 to present) we fitted eight birds in northeastern Nevada with satellite transmitters and recorded multiple daily GPS locations. Our preliminary work suggests that these birds displayed similar movement patterns in successive breeding and wintering periods, unless affected by a notable disturbance (e.g., fire near a nest stand). Our tagged birds primarily stayed within the state with localized movements, though for most birds, space use changed significantly at different time periods throughout the year. The inference gained from analyzing space use in this area is valuable for better understanding habitat requirements, space use, and response to disturbance by goshawks in Nevada and may be useful for broader scale inference about goshawks within similar habitat types.

As a 5th year PhD candidate and member of the Ecology Center at Utah State University, Marilyn has focused her research on understanding spatial ecology and space use by the avian community, especially in western mountain forests. Her interests are in applied ecology and management, and she works closely with state and federal agencies both collecting field data and completing data analysis. This unique opportunity has given Marilyn a chance to bridge an education in the latest techniques in space use and habitat analysis with the needs of wildlife managers to answer research questions that are exciting, timely, and relevant.