Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Habitat
Ground
Diet
VertFishScav
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
4.2 kg
About This Species
Golden Eagles favor open country such as mountains, canyons, and grasslands, where they soar on thermals or ridge updrafts while scanning for rabbits and ground squirrels. Fall migration along mountain ridgelines and updraft corridors offers some of the most reliable viewing, especially on clear, windy days. Watch for a steady, high soar on flat wings, occasionally broken by a fast stoop toward prey on the ground.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep well back from any nest or perch site, ideally several hundred metres, since eagles are highly sensitive to disturbance during courtship and nesting and will abandon eyries if repeatedly approached.
- Nest protections are strong across much of its range, including specific buffer-zone rules in North America and Europe, though the exact distances differ by country, so treat any known nest as off-limits territory rather than a viewing opportunity.
- Use a scope rather than closing distance, and never approach on foot toward a perched bird near a cliff nest.
LCAvesAccipitriformesAccipitridae
Seasonal Activity
729,071 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Traits
- Diet
- VertFishScav
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 4.2 kg
Photo
(c) kjohnston406, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by kjohnston406
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.