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Golden eagle

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their napes. Immature eagles of this species typically have white on the tail and often have white markings on the wings. Golden eagles use their agility and speed combined with powerful feet and large, sharp talons to hunt a variety of prey, mainly hares, rabbits, and marmots and other ground squirrels.[4] Golden eagles maintain home ranges or territories that may be as large as 200 km2 (77 sq mi). They build large nests in cliffs and other high places to which they may return for several breeding years. Most breeding activities take place in the spring; they are monogamous and may remain together for several years or possibly for life. Females lay up to four eggs, and then incubate them for six weeks. Typically, one or two young survive to fledge in about three months. These juvenile golden eagles usually attain full independence in the fall, after which they wander widely until establishing a territory for themselves in four to five years.

For other uses, see Golden Eagle (disambiguation).

Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many areas that are heavily populated by humans. Despite being extirpated from or uncommon in some of its former range, the species is still widespread, being present in sizeable stretches of Eurasia, North America, and parts of North Africa. It is the largest and least populous of the five species of true accipitrid to occur as a breeding species in both the Palearctic and the Nearctic.[5]


For centuries, this species has been one of the most highly regarded birds used in falconry. Because of its hunting prowess, the golden eagle is regarded with great mystic reverence in some ancient, tribal cultures. It is one of the most extensively studied species of raptor in the world in some parts of its range, such as the Western United States and the Western Palearctic.

Aquila chrysaetos chrysaetos (, 1758) – sometimes referred to as the European golden eagle.[17] This is the nominate subspecies. This subspecies is found almost throughout Europe, including the British Isles (mainly in Scotland), the majority of Scandinavia, southern and northernmost France, Italy and Austria. In Eastern Europe, it is found from Estonia to Romania, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria in southeastern Europe. It is also distributed through European Russia, reportedly reaching its eastern limit around the Yenisei River in Russia, also ranging south at a similar longitude into western Kazakhstan and northern Iran.[4][15] Male wing length is from 56.5 to 67 cm (22.2 to 26.4 in), averaging 62 cm (24 in), and female wing length is from 61.5 to 71.2 cm (24.2 to 28.0 in), averaging 67 cm (26 in). Males weigh from 2.8 to 4.6 kg (6.2 to 10.1 lb), averaging 3.69 kg (8.1 lb), and females weigh from 3.8 to 6.7 kg (8.4 to 14.8 lb), averaging 5.17 kg (11.4 lb).[4][15] The male of this subspecies has a wingspan of 1.89 to 2.15 m (6 ft 2 in to 7 ft 1 in), with an average of 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in), with the female's typical wingspan range is 2.12 to 2.2 m (6 ft 11 in to 7 ft 3 in), with an average of 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in).[17] This is a medium-sized subspecies and is the palest. As opposed to golden eagles found further east in Eurasia, the adults of this subspecies are a tawny golden-brown on the upperside. The nape patch is often gleaming golden in color and the feathers here are exceptionally long.[5][15][18]

Linnaeus

Aquila chrysaetos homeyeri Severtzov, 1888 – commonly known as the Iberian golden eagle. This subspecies occurs in almost the entirety of the as well as the island of Crete, though it is absent from the rest of continental Europe. It also ranges in North Africa in a narrow sub-coastal strip from Morocco to Tunisia. A completely isolated population of golden eagles is found in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, at the southern limit of the species' range worldwide. Although this latter population has not been formally assigned to a subspecies, there is a high probability that it belongs with A. c. homeyeri. This subspecies also ranges in much of Asia Minor, mainly Turkey, spottily through the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula into northern Yemen and Oman to its eastern limits throughout the Caucasus,[19] much of Iran and north to southwestern Kazakhstan.[4][15] Male wing length is from 55 to 64.3 cm (21.7 to 25.3 in), averaging 59 cm (23 in), and female wing length is from 60 to 70.5 cm (23.6 to 27.8 in), averaging 64 cm (25 in). Weight is from 2.9 to 6 kg (6.4 to 13.2 lb) with no known reports of average masses.[4][15] This subspecies is slightly smaller and darker plumaged than the nominate subspecies, but it is not as dark as the golden eagles found further to the east. The forehead and crown are dark brownish, with the nape patch being short-feathered and a relatively light rusty color.[20]

Iberian peninsula

Aquila chrysaetos daphanea Severtzov, 1888 – known variously as the Asian golden eagle, Himalayan golden eagle or berkut. This subspecies is distributed in central Kazakhstan, eastern Iran, and the easternmost Caucasus, distributed to Manchuria and central China and along the Himalayas from northern Pakistan to Bhutan and discontinuing in northeastern Myanmar (rarely ranging over into northernmost India).[4][15][22] This subspecies is the largest on average. Male wing length is from 60 to 68 cm (24 to 27 in), averaging 64 cm (25 in), and female wing length is from 66 to 72 cm (26 to 28 in), averaging 70 cm (28 in). No range of body weights are known, but males will weigh approximately 4.05 kg (8.9 lb) and females 6.35 kg (14.0 lb).[4][15] Although the wingspan of this subspecies reportedly averages 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in), some individuals can have much longer wings.[21] One female berkut had an authenticated wingspan of 2.81 m (9 ft 3 in), although she was a captive specimen.[21] It is generally the second-darkest subspecies, being blackish on the back. The forehead and crown are dark with a blackish cap near the end of the crown. The feathers of the nape and top-neck are rich brown-red. The nape feathers are slightly shorter than in the nominate subspecies and are similar in length to A. c. homeyeri.[23][24]

[21]

Aquila chrysaetos japonica Severtzov, 1888 – commonly known as the Japanese golden eagle. This subspecies is found in northern (the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido and discontinuously in Kyushu) and undefined parts of Korea.[4][15] Male wing length is from 58 to 59.5 cm (22.8 to 23.4 in), averaging 59 cm (23 in), and female wing length is from 62 to 64.5 cm (24.4 to 25.4 in), averaging 63 cm (25 in). No range of body weights are known, but males will weigh approximately 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) and females 3.25 kg (7.2 lb). This is, by far, the smallest-bodied subspecies. It is also the darkest, with even adults being a slaty-grayish black on the back and crown and juveniles being similar, but with darker black plumage contrasting with brownish color and white scaling on the wings, flank and tail. This subspecies has bright rufous nape feathers that are quite loose and long. Adult Japanese golden eagles often maintain extensive white mottling on the inner-webs of the tail that tend to be more typical of juvenile eagles in other subspecies.[4][15]

Japan

Aquila chrysaetos canadensis (, 1758) – commonly known as the North American golden eagle. Occupies the species' entire range in North America, which comprises the great majority of Alaska, western Canada, Western United States and Mexico. The species is found breeding occasionally in all Canadian provinces but for Nova Scotia. It is currently absent in the Eastern United States as breeding species east of a line from North Dakota down through westernmost Nebraska and Oklahoma to West Texas. The southern limits of its range are in central Mexico, from the Guadalajara area in the west to the Tampico area in the east; it is the "Mexican eagle" featured on the coat of arms of Mexico.[25] It is the subspecies with the largest breeding range and is probably the most numerous subspecies, especially if A. c. kamtschatica is included.[4][15] Male wing length is from 59.1 to 64 cm (23.3 to 25.2 in), averaging 61 cm (24 in), and female wing length is from 60.1 to 67.4 cm (23.7 to 26.5 in), averaging 65 cm (26 in).[4][15][26] The average wingspan in both sexes is about 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in).[5] Males weigh from 2.5 to 4.47 kg (5.5 to 9.9 lb), averaging 3.48 kg (7.7 lb), and females typically weigh from 3.6 to 6.4 kg (7.9 to 14.1 lb), averaging 4.91 kg (10.8 lb).[4][15] The subspecies does not appear to follow Bergmann's rule (the rule that widely distributed organisms are larger-bodied further away from the Equator), as specimens of both sexes from Idaho had a mean weight of 4.22 kg (9.3 lb) and where slightly heavier than those from Alaska, with a mean weight of 3.76 kg (8.3 lb).[4][5] It is medium-sized, being generally intermediate in size between the nominate and A. c. homeyeri, but with much overlap. It is blackish to dark brown on the back. The long feathers of the nape and top-neck are rusty-reddish and slightly narrower and darker than in the nominate subspecies.[15][27]

Linnaeus

Aquila chrysaetos kamtschatica , 1888 – sometimes referred to as the Siberian golden eagle or the Kamchatkan golden eagle. This subspecies ranges from Western Siberia (where overlap with A. c. chrysaetos is probable), across most of Russia, including the Altay (spilling over into Northern Mongolia), to the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Anadyrsky District. This subspecies is often included in A. c. canadensis.[4][15] Male wing length is from 61.8 to 70.5 cm (24.3 to 27.8 in), averaging 64 cm (25 in), and female wing length is from 65 to 72 cm (26 to 28 in), averaging 69 cm (27 in).[28] No weights are known in this subspecies.[4] The coloration of these eagles is almost exactly the same as in A. c. canadensis. The main difference is that this subspecies is much larger in size, being nearly the equal of A. c. daphanea if going on wing-length.[15]

Severtzov

Killing permits

In December 2016, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed allowing wind-turbine electric generation companies to kill golden eagles without penalty, so long as "companies take steps to minimize the losses". If issued, the permits would last 30 years, six times the current 5-year permits.[113][114]

Cramp, Stanley, ed. (1979). Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa, the Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 2: Hawks to Bustards. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  978-0-19-857505-4.

ISBN

López Luján, Leonardo. The Offerings of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Translated by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano and Thelma Ortiz de Montellano. Niwot, Colo., 1994. In addition to descriptions of eagles as offerings, there is discussion of the founding of the city of Tenochtitlan and its major temple

Kazakh hunter. Fox Hunting with a Golden Eagle – Human Planet: Mountains, preview – BBC One

Photos Hunting with Golden Eagles

. Internet Bird Collection.

"Golden eagle media"

Ageing and sexing (PDF; 5.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze

Website on the Golden Eagle maintained by Raptor Protection of Slovakia

Archived 10 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine

Åldersbestämning av kungsörn – Ageing of Golden Eagles (in Swedish and English)

United States Geological Survey

Golden Eagle Records from the Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey: Information for Wind Energy Management and Planning

. NCBI Taxonomy Browser. 8962.

"Aquila chrysaetos"