Field Guide
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Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Not yet photographed by the community
Majestic monarch of the Scottish Highlands.
Species Profile
Amber List (due to small UK population and historical persecution); listed as protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- Lifespan
- 25–30 years in the wild, with some individuals recorded living over 40 years
- Size & Weight
- 76–89 cm long, wingspan 190–220 cm; 3.0–6.7 kg (females larger than males)
- Habitat
- Remote mountainous and moorland terrain with steep cliffs for nesting, typically in upland regions with minimal human disturbance.
- UK Distribution
- Resident breeding population confined almost exclusively to the Scottish Highlands and Islands; very rare elsewhere in the UK. Occasionally seen as a vagrant in other parts of Scotland, northern England, and Wales.
- Diet
- Carnivorous, hunting live prey by soaring and diving from great heights at speeds exceeding 150 mph.
- Prey
- Mountain hares, red grouse, ptarmigan, rabbits, and occasionally young red deer calves; also takes waterfowl and corvids
- Predators
- Golden eagles are apex predators with no natural predators in the UK; young eaglets may rarely be taken by other eagles or by humans historically
- Mating Season
- January to June, with courtship displays beginning in winter
- Breeding
- Clutch of 1–3 eggs (usually 2), incubation period 43–45 days, fledging at 65–75 days; typically one brood per year, though not all pairs breed annually
- Behaviour
- Highly territorial and solitary outside the breeding season; pairs mate for life and often occupy the same territory for decades. They soar at tremendous heights using thermals and ridge lift to hunt across vast home ranges of 60–100 square kilometres.
- •Golden eagles can live longer than most humans, with some individuals surviving over 45 years in captivity
- •They are the second-largest eagle in the world by wing area and the fastest animal in a stoop, reaching speeds of over 150 mph
- •UK breeding pairs were almost completely extirpated by persecution in the 19th and 20th centuries, with only a handful of pairs remaining in Scotland by the 1970s
- •Golden eagles can carry prey weighing up to 4 kg, though they typically take items under 1 kg
- •Breeding pairs build massive stick nests (eyries) that can measure up to 2 metres across and weigh over a tonne, reusing and adding to the same nest for decades
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