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Golden Eagle

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Raptors

Scientific Classification

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Conservation

Scientific name: Aquila chrysaetos
Family name: Accipitridae

Are they endangered? No, they are not endangered worldwide.  (IUCN Redlist: Least concern)   

What are their past/present problems?  Even though there are laws to protect them, Golden Eagles are still poisoned and shot by hunters.  Farmers and ranchers will put poison out to kill other unwanted animals.  The eagles will eat the dead animals with the poison in them and then become ill themselves and lay thin-shelled eggs. 

Golden Eagle

What do they look like?  Golden Eagles are a golden brown and a darker brown all over their bodies.  Their wings and tails have white markings on them.  Their eyes are brown.

How big are they?  The Golden Eagle is about 3 feet long.  If it stretches out its wings as far as they would go, they would be about 7 feet wide

How many eggs do they lay?  The female lays 2 white eggs every two years.  They hatch in about 45 days.

How long do the fledglings stay in the nest?  The Golden Eagle nest is called an eyrie.  It is made of sticks and is used more than one year.  The eagles keep adding sticks each year and end up making really big nests.  The young birds (fledglings) stay in the nest for nine weeks.

When do they hunt?  They hunt during the day. (diurnal)

What do they eat?  They like to eat medium sized mammals, birds, rabbits, insects, and sometimes dead animals.

Where do they live?  They are found in Asia, Europe, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and in Middle Eastern countries.

What kind of place do they like to live in?  They like deserts and mountain areas without a lot of trees.  Wherever they are, they will stay in places where people can’t bother them.

Interesting facts:
Kings used to hunt with Golden Eagles.

Golden Eagles that live in colder, northern areas will migrate while those in the warmer south won’t.


Works Cited:

Alderfer, Jonathan.  Complete Birds of North America.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic, 2006.

All about golden eagle.  20 Dec. 2007.  <http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/education/goldeneagle.pdf>.

Alsop, Fred.  Birds of North America.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2001.

Aquila chrysaetos.    20 Dec. 2007.  <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49452/all>.

Golden eagle.   5 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/eagles/goldeagl.html>.


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Links

Golden Eagle coloring

Eagle word search

Trivia game

 


Gross facts
Golden Eagles will grab tortoises and drop them on rocks to open them up so they can eat them.


 

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