Each year, raptor specialists from Milvus Group check nests in the breeding period. The primary aims are to ascertain the breeding status of the birds, to ring the chicks and to determine the threats to successful breeding. On the 25th of June the specialists visited the nest of a pair of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), where they found an unpleasant scene. The original nest in a scots pine had fallen from its position, most likely due to damage caused by a storm. Fortunately, the chick was still alive, living in a part of the nest that had caught on the lower branches. The specialists assessed that the remains of the nest will not survive another storm and, as the life of the chicks was in danger, they decided to help it. They took the Golden Eagle chick to the Rehabilitation Centre from Tîrgu Mureș, where the veterinarian examined it, finding that the chick was in good shape. The following day they took it back to the nesting area. The team mounted an artificial nest in the place of the original nest and, after ringing the chick, put it in the new nest. When the ornithologists left the parent Golden Eagles were already there and watching their chick. After a just a month the chick had already been spotted flying.
The artificial nest assures safe nesting for a long period for the Golden Eagle pair, which will most likely breed for years in the same forest. As Golden Eagles usually raise one, rarely two chicks, these activities are of great importance for the conservation of this species.
