CLERMONT, Ky. — Love is in the air at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest -- literally!
Esteemed female golden eagle Athena has found a new partner just in time for Valentine's Day.
Athena lost her previous longtime mate, Harper, a few years ago. They were the first tracked pair of golden eagles in eastern Northern America.
"Not much is known about how golden eagles find or choose a mate, end even less is known about how they replace a lost mate," Amy Landon, director of communications for Bernheim, said in a press release.
Landon said new audio captured in January demonstrates calling between Athena and another male golden eagle.
"We observed the pair sitting together for long periods over several days, chatting and calling back and forth, and taking turns flying off perch, once hitting an approaching bald eagle in an aggressive aerial attack," Landon said.
Harper was lost in the Canadian wilderness in April 2021. Indications from tracking showed he died while on a hunting trip while Athena was at the nest.
When she migrated back to Kentucky that winter, researchers noted Athena traveled more widely, possibly in search of a new mate. It seems to have paid off, because as of last winter, officials say another golden eagle was seen with her.
"They seemed to tolerate each other's presence," Landon said. "Over the next few weeks she continued to be seen in proximity to this eagle."
But researchers didn't just see one new golden eagle, they said a juvenile golden eagle has been spotted in the vicinity of both Athena and the new bird.
Landon says Athena has displayed behavior that suggests she may have fledged a chick and her track in Canada last summer suggests she was on the nest for long periods. That timing corresponds to laying and hatching an egg.
There are still many questions surrounding the two love birds, so Landon said to "stay tuned" as the spring migration approaches in early March.
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