Common name: Golden eagle
Scientific name: Aquila chrysaetos
Identification:
The entire upperside is dark brown (paler in some individuals), with the crown and nape feathers edged with gold. The tail has a number of irregular dark gray bands. Below, the bird is somewhat paler brown than above, with the thigh feathering some shade of buff, and the legs and feet yellow.
Range:
The species ranges over almost all of North America, from Alaska and southern Canada down to Central Mexico.
Habitat:
This is a bird of the most inhospitable and extensive open mountainous areas of the Northern Hemisphere, and this is especially true in the United States.
Nesting:
The Golden Eagle builds an untidy nest of sticks and branches, usually on a rocky crag, though occasionally in a tree, and over the course of many seasons, it can become enormous. Most pairs have a number of alternative sites which are used in rotation.
Feeding habits:
They prey on a wide variety of mammals up to the size of a small deer fawn, and some gamebirds, all invariably taken on the ground. It undoubtedly does eat domestic lambs, and even sheep, on occasion, but in such cases the prey is probably already dead, or at least extremely sick. Conservation status: Maintaining reasonable numbers.
