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Golden Eagle

Aquila chrysaetosOrder: FALCONIFORMESFamily: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)
Golden Eagle Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Hooked
  • Eye Color: Dark brown in juveniles. Adults vary from dark brown, hazel, or light yellow to flecked gold and brown; a few even appear white.
  • Head Pattern: Plain
  • Crown Color: Golden Brown
  • Forehead Color: Dark Brown
  • Nape Color: Golden-brown
  • Throat Color: Dark Brown
  • Cere color: No Data
Golden Eagle Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 69-97 cm (27-38 in)
  • Weight: 4534 g (160 oz)
  • Size: Very Large (32 - 72 in)
  • Color Primary: Brown
  • Underparts: Dark Brown
  • Upperparts: Dark Brown
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Golden Eagle Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Buoyant flight with steady wingbeats., Sometimes alternates several wing strokes with short to long glides.
  • Wingspan Range: 183-244 cm (72-96 in)
  • Wing Shape: Broad-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Brown with gray bands.
  • Upper Tail: Dark brown with pale bars.
  • Under Tail: Dark brown with some pale barring.
  • Leg Color: Yellow
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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