“Sutton” is named after the Phon D. Sutton Recreation Area where her male parent was found injured back in February. The parent had to be euthanized, so Game and Fish biologists took the egg to Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation in Scottsdale, where it hatched. In April Sutton was placed into a foster nest. She fledged, or began flying, from the nest earlier this summer. Thanks to a radio transmitter placed on Sutton, biologists now know where she’s migrating.

“It’s exciting to see this eagle doing so well given her rough start in life,” says eagle biologist James Driscoll. “We learned she was in Wyoming last week. Now, she’s living near a lake in Minnesota.”

Every year Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists, with financial support from the Bureau of Reclamation, place transmitters on about a half-dozen eaglets. The transmitters send signals to a satellite, and information about the eagles’ movements can be tracked on a computer.

“This helps us better understand Arizona eagles’ migration patterns and problems they may encounter during their first years of life,” says Driscoll. “In addition, if we know several eagles are going to a certain area and returning with a disease or contaminant, then we can coordinate with other states to remedy those problems.”