Golden Eagle

 Golden Eagle

The golden eagle is a most powerful and well-known birds of prey. Scientific name of Golden Eagle is Aquila chrysaetos. They are belong to Accipitridae family. “Aquila” is a Latin word for eagle which derived from the word “aquilus” which means “Dark in color”. “Chrysaetos”, an Ancient Greek language which is used for the golden eagle, derived from “khrusos” , meaning 'gold" and “aetos” means “eagle”. 

Golden eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. The golden eagle is the National bird Afghanistan, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, and Scotland. The golden eagle is very swift and their diving speed is over 150 miles per hour. Golden eagle can live 30 years in the wild.

Harpy Eagle/ About American and Papuan Harpy Eagle

Size of Eagles

What Do Eagles Eat

Subspecies of Golden Eagle

Golden eagles are divided into six subspecies, based on differences in size and plumage. These subspecies are found in different parts of the world. Six subspecies are:

·       Aquila chrysaetos chrysaetos

·       Aquila chrysaetos kamtschatica

·       Aquila chrysaetos homeyen

·       Aquila chrysaetos daphanea

·       Aquila chrysaetos japonica

·       Aquila chrysaetos Canadensis

Description and Behavior

The Golden eagle is one of the large birds of prey. The size of the Golden eagle is 66cm to 102cm in length. Adult male Golden eagle is smaller than female Golden eagle. Female Golden eagles are heavier than male Golden eagles. Female of the Himalayan Golden eagle is about 37% heavier than male Golden eagle and have nearly 9% longer wings. The largest subspecies of male Golden eagle weighs 5.6 pounds and female weighs 7 pounds. Normally, male Golden eagle weighs around 7 pound and female around 11 pound.

The length of their tail is 26 to 38cm and beak is 6cm. The length of their powerful hallux-claw is between 4 to 6cm. Their wingspan is 6 feet to 8 feet.

Both the male and female golden eagle have dark brown or blackish brown plumage. On the inner wing and tail have grey feathers. On their head and neck have striking golden feathers that give the birds its common name. The tarsal feathers of golden eagles are light golden or white. Its sharp, hooked beak and large feet are yellow in color.

Juvenile golden eagle is darker and has white patches on the tail and wings. Two-third of the tail of juvenile is usually white, ending with a broad black band and a white terminal band. The amount of white feathers on their wings and tails varies but slowly decrease with each progressive molt. Adult plumages can be obtained in their fifth summer. Their under wing coverts are replaced by rustly brown feathers by their second summer and by the third summer, upper wing coverts are replaced by dark brown feathers. They obtain the adult plumage at the age of 5 to 6 years old.

The golden eagle’s bill is grey near the base but tip is black and the color of its cere is yellow. Their moulting start from March and decreases in winter. Golden eagle has tending for silence. Their voice is weak, high and shrill that is incompatible with their size and nature. Their occasional calls tend during breeding season. Nine distinct calls of the golden eagle were recorded- chirp, wonk, honk, wip, hiss, croak, weee-o, pleek, cherep.

The golden eagle is the best fliers among all raptorial birds. It has broad long wings with finger-like indentations at the end of the wings. Normally their speed is around 45 to 50km per hour but when they dive after prey, their speed can reach 240 to 320km per hour. Golden eagle is the second fastest bird in the world after Peregrine falcon.

The color of adult golden eagle's eyes is brown or gold. The golden eagle has excellent eyesight and the size of its eyes is also similar to that of a human. The golden eagle has 4 to 5 times better eyesight than a human. Golden Eagle's  excellent vision helps it to find prey from high in the sky. The golden eagle able to see a rabbit at more than three miles away. Humans can only have a maximum vision of 20/20 but golden eagle’s average vision is 20/5. Their retinas are much more densely coated with cones. Their eye has two focal points called “fovea, a deep central fovea and a shallow temporal fovea. The deep fovea points forwards and approximately 45 degrees to the right or left of the head axis and the shallow fovea also points forwards but approximately 15 degrees.

It has two eyelids and a translucent nictitating membrane, known as the “third eyelid” which blinks every 4 to 5 seconds horizontally across the eyes to provide moisture and protection and cleans the eyes from dirt and dust. The lacrimal gland and Hardarian gland produce eagle tears that moisten the eyes and prevent eye infections.

Golden eagles have the ability to see more colors than humans can. They also able to see ultraviolet light. Small prey’s urine trail is visible to the eagles in the ultraviolent range.

Golden eagle has ears behind their eyes, covered with feathers. They have good hearing. Golden eagle can live 30 years in the wild.

Golden Eagle diet

Golden eagle is carnivore. Golden eagles prefer to hunt and eat any animals of a reasonable size. The golden eagle usually hunt during daytime but they also hunt one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. They use their speed, powerful feet and sharp talons to snatch up prey like rabbit, marmots, squirrels, hares. They use their speed, powerful feet and sharp talons to snatch up prey like rabbit, marmots, squirrels, hares. The golden eagles prefer to hunt foxes including adult red foxes which are heavier than the golden eagle. The golden eagles eat 12 species of Canid (dog family) and make up 2.8% of golden eagle’s diet but rarely hunt cats.

Golden eagles also eat other mammals like moles, raccoons, pikas, kangaroo rats etc. but these prey items comprise less than 1% of nest. Golden eagle also attack other birds and more than 200 bird species have been identified at the golden eagle’s nest. Golden eagles eat rock pigeons, Canada goose, magpies, crow, raven, rooks, Eurasian jay, water fowl, swans, ducks, pigeons, geese, herons, cranes, cormorants, loons, auks etc. They rarely hunt larks, woodpeckers, cuckoos, shrikes, finches and many other small species of birds.

Generally they hunt and eat colubrid snakes or harmless snakes but occasionally venomous species like prairie rattlesnake, vipera berus etc. are hunted and eaten by golden eagles. In some regions, tortoises are the main prey in their diet.

The golden eagles that live in hotter, drier place, regularly hunt and eat lizards. The large lizards such as monitor lizard contribute most to the golden eagle’s diet. In Europe, ocellated lizard is the most important lizard prey of golden eagle. In Northern Africa, spiny-tailed lizards are most important prey for golden eagle. The golden eagles that live in the French Pyrenees and the West-Central Highlands of Scotland, eat amphibians, especially Rana frogs.

In winter month, the golden eagles largely depend on carrion. Every day they need 250g of food. When there is scarcity of food, golden eagles attack owls, hawks, falcons and wolverines and any other birds of prey and forcefully snatch their food or their leftover carrion.

Habitat of Golden Eagle

Golden eagle live in Eurasia, North Africa and North America. Golden eagle lives in temperate, polar, terrestrial habitat. In Europe, golden eagles are found in tundra and taiga and from the Kola Peninsula to Anadyr in eastern Siberia. In North America, they are found from Mexico through Alaska. A small population lives in Canada and eastern United States. In the United States, there live around 20,000 to 30,000 Golden Eagles. A small population lives in northern Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

Reproduction of Golden Eagle

Golden eagles are monogamous, means pairs stay together year round. When they are 5 years old, they begin breeding. A breeding pair is formed in a courtship display known as “sky-dancing”, which is an aerial dance including a series of intricate swoops and dives. Golden eagles breed from March to August. They start to build their nest 1to 3 months before laying eggs. Golden eagles prefer to build their nest on cliffs but also build on trees, windmills, towers. They build nest 0 to 107m off the ground. Both male and female golden eagle build their nest that take 4 to 6 weeks. They use dry grass, sticks, inner bark, wire, fence posts and also use bones to build their nest. Their huge nest is 5 to 6 feet wide and 2 feet high and enclosing a bowl about 3 feet by 2 feet.

The female golden eagle lays 1 to 4 eggs in the nest and lays one egg every other day and don't hatch at the same time. The female  golden eagle sits on the eggs or incubates for 40 to 45 days. Once hatched, the female remains with them continuously for the next 10 days, then the male provides food to the mother and chicks. They start flying at about 10 weeks of age and when they are 45 to 81 days old, they become independent and leave the nest.

Threat to Golden Eagle

Due to habitat destruction and degradation, illegal shootings, and contamination of its food source, the use of the insecticide DDT, the golden eagle population decreased. Lead poisoning is one of the leading causes of death of golden eagles.

Golden eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. The golden eagle is the National bird Afghanistan, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, and Scotland.

Where does the golden eagle live?

Golden eagle live in Eurasia, North Africa and North America.  In North America, they are found from Mexico through Alaska. A small populations found in northern Ontario and Quebec.

Are Golden Eagles bigger than bald eagles?

The size of the Bald eagle is70cm to 103cm long. Female Bald eagles are about 25% large than male bald eagles. Adult male Bald eagle weighs 7 to 10 pounds while the female Bald eagle weighs about 14 pounds. Male Bald eagle’s wingspan is 1.8m to 2.3m but as female bald eagle is larger in size than the male so their wingspan can reach 2.5 in length and mass is up to 6.5kg. The size of bald eagles depends on where they live. The Bald eagles that live in South Carolina, weigh 3.30kg and wingspan can reach up to 1.90m.

In other hand, The size of the Golden eagle is 66cm to 102cm in length. Adult male Golden eagle is smaller than female Golden eagle. Their wingspan is 6 feet to 8 feet. The largest subspecies of male Golden eagle weighs 5.6 pounds and female weighs 7 pounds. Normally, male Golden eagle weighs around 7 pound and female around 11 pound.

So, golden eagle is smaller than bald eagles in average height and wingspan, but there is not much difference in average weight, height and wingspan.

Are there golden eagles in Ireland?

Once golden eagles were found in Ireland but disappeared in the 18th century. However, the reintroduction of the Irish breeding population has been reintroduced in County Donegal. The Donegal Golden Eagle population is still in a difficult position. It was recorded that in 2019, there were about 22-28 Golden Eagles on the Island of Ireland.

How rare is Golden Eagle?

Once, the golden eagles lived in Europe, North Asia, North America, North Africa, and Japan. An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Golden Eagles live around the world, including Europe, Asia and North Africa. According to the IUCN the golden eagle is not considered threatened. Human activities are the main cause of their threates include habitat change, persecution, poisoning and collisions with man-made objects like tower, electric post, telephone pole etc.

Can Golden Eagles kill humans?

The golden eagle is a most powerful and well-known birds of prey. The length of their beak is 6cm and the length of their powerful hallux-claws are between 4 and 6 cm and each leg has 1200 pounds of crushing power per square inch! They are so powerful that they can kill a man but they become aggressive only when the human disturb their chicks or come closer to their nests.