Eyes on the sky: The technology that safeguards an Auburn tradition
Working with wild animals — even human imprinted ones — can offer unpredictability. The Auburn University Raptor Center (AURC) works carefully to build trust with its raptor ambassadors, but also relies on technology as an additional precaution when it takes to the skies for “War Eagle Flights” before Auburn football games.
Our video series with the AURC, a unit of the College of Veterinary Medicine, examines the ways staff and volunteers use GSP technology and telemetry as a precautionary measure when raptor ambassadors take to the skies for free flight.
“Even though we’ve trained them to voluntarily participate in doing exactly what we want, sometimes they have a mind of their own, or perhaps there’s something that spooks them or interacts with their flight in a way that we can’t account for,” AURC Director Robyn Miller said.
Independence and Aurea, the bald and golden eagles that have taken to the skies before Auburn football games during the 2025 season, are each non-releasable.
Telemetry and GPS transmitters the approximate size of a penny are attached to raptors using tail mounts. The transmitters send out a signal that allows AURC staff to safely recover resident raptors in the event the unexpected occurs.