The golden eagle is one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their napes.
Habitat[]
Golden eagles are fairly adaptable in habitat but often reside in areas with a few shared ecological characteristics. They are best suited to hunting in open or semi-open areas and search them out year-around. They are mostly found in mountainous regions in Europe, Asia and North America.
Flight[]
Golden eagles are sometimes considered the best fliers among eagles and perhaps among all raptorial birds. They are equipped with broad, long wings with somewhat finger-like indentations on the tips of the wing. Flapping flight usually consists of 6–8 deep wing-beats, interspersed with 2–3 second glides.
While soaring, the wings and tail are held in one plane with the primary tips often spread. A typical, unhurried soaring speed in golden eagles is around 45–52 kilometres per hour (28–32 mph).
Diet[]
Golden eagles are apex predators and they are some of the most powerful predators in the avian world. Their diet consists primarily small mammals. Rabbits, hares and ground squirrels are their favorite prey. Golden eagles will also hunt birds, reptiles or fish. They are also rumored to attack fawns and lambs
Family Life[]
Golden eagles mate for life. A breeding pair is formed in a courtship display. This courtship includes undulating displays by both in the pair, with the male bird picking up a piece of rock or a small stick, and dropping it only to enter into a steep dive and catch it in mid-air, repeating the maneuver 3 or more times. The female takes a clump of earth and drops and catches it in the same fashion.
Golden eagles build several eyries or nests on cliff faces and use them alternately for several years. Mating and egg-laying timing for golden eagle is variable depending on the locality. Copulation normally lasts 10–20 seconds. Mating seems to occur around 40–46 days before the initial egg-laying. Upon hatching, the chicks are covered in fluffy white down. One day after hatching, chicks will weigh 105 to 115 g (3.7 to 4.1 oz), with an average of 110.6 g (3.90 oz).
Young eagles stay within 100 m (330 ft) of the nest in the first few weeks after fledging. They typically have a favored perch where food is brought by the parents and the fledglings only rarely need to take to the wing. 8 to 20 days after first fledging, the young eagles will take their first circling flight but they cannot gain height as efficiently as their parents until approximately 60 days after fledging.
In Pop Culture[]
Most early-recorded cultures regarded the golden eagle with reverence. Golden eagles are trained in falconry in the Middle Ages, but are hard to control due to their size, strength, and aggressiveness. Today, the Kyrgyz people of the Tien Shen Mountains are famous for training golden eagles to hunt deer, antelope and even wolves.
Golden eagles are a popular herald in royal emblems all over the world. In Rome, the golden eagle was the model of the aquila which is the most prominent symbol of the Roman legions. The golden eagle is also a symbol of power in the Arab world.
Eagles were also featured in the Bible where they were admired for their swiftness, strength and endurance. They were even believed to be messengers of God. In Greek myth, the golden eagle was the bird of Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. In Norse myth, a huge eagle nests on the top of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
In American, golden eagles are sacred birds to many indigenous American cultures where eagle feathers were used to make headdresses. In Aztec myth, eagles were the symbol of Huitzilopochtli, the patron god of the Aztecs and eagle-warriors were one of the two main leading military special forces of the Aztec armies.
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![Little Fables [2010-2013]](/wiki/File:Little_Fables_Eagle.png "Little Fables Eagle.png (29 KB)")
![The Most Extreme [2002-2007]](/wiki/File:The_Most_Extreme_Golden_Eagle.png "The Most Extreme Golden Eagle.png (143 KB)")
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