Golden Eagle

The golden eagle is the classic eagle of mountains and open country across the Northern Hemisphere — a large, dark, powerful raptor that hunts on the wing and has been a symbol of empires, armies, and falconers for millennia.

Overview

Golden eagles live across western North America, North Africa, Europe, and Asia, wherever there is open ground to hunt over and cliffs or large trees to nest on: alpine meadow, tundra, steppe, sagebrush desert, and moorland. They avoid dense forest and developed land. Most northern birds migrate; those in milder regions hold a territory year-round.

Physical characteristics

Adults are dark brown with a wash of pale gold on the head and neck that gives the species its name. Females are substantially larger than males — a common pattern in birds of prey. The legs are feathered to the toes, marking the golden eagle as a “booted” eagle, and the feet are armed with long rear talons and a crushing grip. The eyes are set for forward binocular vision with visual acuity several times sharper than a human’s.

Hunting

Golden eagles hunt in several ways: quartering low and fast along a slope to surprise prey, soaring high and then folding into a long stoop, or hunting cooperatively as a pair, one bird flushing prey toward the other. The strike uses the talons, driven with enough force to kill a hare or grouse instantly.

The core diet is medium-sized mammals and ground birds. Golden eagles also scavenge readily, and in winter carrion — including road-killed deer and livestock carcasses — can be a major food source, which is also where many birds are exposed to poisoning.

Nesting

Pairs are long-lived and mate for life, defending a large territory that may contain several huge stick nests, or eyries, on cliff ledges or in trees. They reuse and add to a nest year after year until it becomes enormous. The female lays one to three eggs; typically only one or two chicks fledge, and where two hatch the older often kills the younger in years of poor food.

Threats and conservation

Globally the golden eagle is Least Concern and its numbers are broadly stable, but it faces serious local pressures:

• Lead poisoning from ingesting fragments of lead ammunition in carcasses and gut piles — a leading cause of death in North American birds.
• Collisions and electrocution on power lines and, increasingly, wind turbines in poorly sited developments.
• Illegal killing and poisoning by some livestock and game interests.
• Habitat loss to agriculture, afforestation, and disturbance of nesting cliffs.

Golden eagles are legally protected across their range. Recovery in places such as Scotland and the Alps shows that reducing persecution and poisoning, together with retrofitting dangerous power poles, allows populations to rebuild.