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Golden Eagle

Aquila chrysaetosOrder: FALCONIFORMESFamily: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Golden Eagle Portrait
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General

Golden Eagle: Large raptor with dark brown body and golden-brown feathers on back of head and nape. Eyes and bill are dark. Legs are completely feathered. Female is noticeably larger than male. Juvenile has large white tail patch with black terminal band.

Range and Habitat

Golden Eagle: Occurs worldwide across boreal regions of the globe. In North America, it breeds from Alaska eastward across the Canadian arctic to northern Labrador, but is absent from most of Keewatin and the arctic archipelago. In the west, it occurs south to Baja and northern Mexico, including all of the western U.S. Found in a variety of habitats in the western U.S., including mountainous areas, canyons, shrub lands, and grasslands.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"bark", "keya", "mews"

Interesting Facts

  • Golden Eagles are protected in the United States where possession of a feather or other body part is a felony.
  • In some countries they are trained as hunters and have been reported to prey on animals weighing up to 100 lbs.
  • The scientific name Aquila chrysaetos is from the Latin word "aquila" meaning eagle and from the Greek words "chrysos" and "aetos" meaning golden and eagle respectively.
  • A group of eagles has many collective nouns, including an "aerie", "convocation", "jubilee", "soar", and "tower" of eagles.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Golden Eagle
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Aquila chrysaetos
Length27 - 38 Inches
Wingspan84 Inches

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle: Large raptor with dark brown body and golden-brown feathers on back of head and nape. Eyes and bill are dark. Cere is yellow. Legs are completely feathered. Feet are yellow. Alternates deep slow wing beats with glides, soars on thermals. Has been clocked in a steep glide at 120 mph.

● Song: "bark", "keya", "mews"

● Foraging & Feeding: Golden Eagle: Diet consists primarily of small mammals such as rabbits and hares; also eats birds, reptiles, and carrion. A pair often hunts together; one chases prey to exhaustion, and the other swoops down for the kill. Dives at speeds estimated from 150-200 mph; can carry up to 8 pounds in flight.

● Breeding & nesting: Golden Eagle: Two red brown marked, white to creamy buff eggs are laid in a nest made of large sticks, lined with rootlets, eucalyptus leaves, moss, rabbit fur, twigs, yucca roots, and dried grass, and built on a cliff face, dirt bank, on the ground, on man-made structures, or in a deciduous or conifer tree. Incubation ranges from 41 to 45 days and is mostly carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Golden Eagle: Juvenile Bald Eagle has a shorter tail and mottled white patches on underparts.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant flight with steady wingbeats., Sometimes alternates several wing strokes with short to long glides.
Golden Eagle Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Golden Eagle: Occurs worldwide across boreal regions of the globe. In North America, it breeds from Alaska eastward across the Canadian arctic to northern Labrador, but is absent from most of Keewatin and the arctic archipelago. In the west, it occurs south to Baja and northern Mexico, including all of the western U.S. Found in a variety of habitats in the western U.S., including mountainous areas, canyons, shrub lands, and grasslands.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon in West, rare in East.
MigrationSome migrate
Weight160 Ounces