These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their heads and necks.
Golden Eagles use their agility and speed combined with extremely powerful talons to snatch up prey including rabbits, marmots, ground squirrels, and large mammals such as fox, wild and domestic cats, mountain goats, ibex, and young deer. They will also eat carrion if prey is scarce, as well as reptiles. Birds, including large species up to the size of swans and cranes as well as ravens and Greater Black-backed Gulls have all been recorded as prey. They have even been known to attack and kill fully grown roe deer. The Eurasian subspecies are used to hunt and kill wolves in many native communities, where their status is regarded with great mystic reverence.
Golden Eagles maintain territories that may be as large as 155 square kilometres (60 square miles). They are monogamous and may remain together for several years or possibly for life. Golden Eagles nest in high places including cliffs, trees, or human structures such as telephone poles. They build huge nests to which they may return for several breeding years. Females lay from one to four eggs, and both parents incubate them for 40 to 45 days. Typically, one or two young survive to fledge in about three months.
Diskripsi:
Adult Golden Eagles vary considerably in size, though some are among the largest eagles of the genus Aquila. The Golden Eagle vary from 66 to 90 centimetres (26 to 35 in) in length, the wingspan can range from 180 to 234 centimetres (71 to 92 in), and weight approximately 2.5 to 7 kilograms (5.5 to 15 lb).[4][5] The smallest-bodied subspecies is A. c. japonica while A. c. daphanea is the largest on average.[4] As with many Accipitriformes, females are considerably larger than males; in the case of the Golden Eagle they weigh one-quarter to one-third more than male birds.
The plumage colour ranges from black-brown to dark brown, with a striking golden-buff crown and nape, which glows in the sunlight and light reflects the golden tint, which give the bird its name. The upper wings also have an irregular lighter area. Immature birds resemble adults, but have a duller more mottled appearance. Also they have a white-banded tail and a white patch at the carpal joint, that gradually disappear with every moult until full adult plumage is reached in the fifth year. Contour feathers may be moulted in a short time span.
Makanan:
Golden Eagles' predominant prey in North America are leporids (hares and rabbits) and sciurids (ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots), the two groups normally comprising 50% to 94% of the diet of nesting eagles. Additional mammals regularly taken include mice, martens, foxes, young deer, and mountain goats.[9] The secondary important prey group for eagles are other birds. Various gallinaceous birds (largely phasianids, ptarmigans and grouse) are the most significant avian prey. However, virtually any bird, from a jay to a swan, is potential prey. During winter months when prey is scarce, Golden Eagles scavenge on carrion to supplement their diet. Sometimes when no carrion is available golden eagles will hunt down large prey, such as goat-antelopes and caribou.[10] There is one confirmed report of a Golden Eagle snatching the cub of a Brown Bear,[11] Other attacks by a pair of eagles on adult brown bear have been filmed, the birds probably were driving the bear out of their territory. Golden eagles are avian apex predators, meaning a healthy adult is not preyed upon. There are records of golden eagles killing and eating large raptors such as Gyrfalcons, Northern Goshawks, and Buteo hawks, whether adults, nestlings or eggs. Falcons, jaegers ,and Buteos like Rough-legged Hawks, which are normally competitors, have worked together to group-mob Golden Eagles that have passed their adjacent nesting areas.[12] In one instance, a golden eagle flying in towards a peregrine falcon nest was struck and killed by a swooping parent falcon.[13] This may have been a freak event since, bearing in mind the eagle is many times larger and more powerful than the falcon, the reverse outcome is much more likely.[14] More commonly, Golden Eagles kleptoparasitize, or steal prey, from other raptors. Despite being often smaller in size than the largest vultures, they are capable of displacing them, of both unrelated families, from carrion. Golden Eagles have exceptional eyesight and can spot prey from extreme distances. The Golden Eagle has a resolution power many times more powerful than that of a human. The huge talons are used for crushing, killing and carrying the prey, whilst the beak is used for tearing and eating. A pair often have a division of labour while hunting, one bird may drive the prey towards its waiting partner. On the other hand, the size difference between males and females allows more unpaired birds to live off the land, which is helpful to maintain a sufficiently large population for this large and slowly-maturing bird.
Reproduksi:
Golden Eagles usually mate for life. They build several eyries within their territory and use them alternately for several years. These nests consist of heavy tree branches, upholstered with grass when in use. Old eyries may be 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter and 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height, as the eagles repair their nests whenever necessary and enlarge them during each use. If the eyrie is situated on a tree, supporting tree branches may break because of the weight of the nest. Certain other animals—birds and mammals too small to be of interest to the huge raptor—often use the nest as shelter. Their predators are just the right size for Golden Eagle prey, and therefore avoid active eyries.
The female lays one to four (usually two) eggs between January and September (depending on the locality). The eggs vary from all white to white with cinnamon or brown spots and blotches. They start incubation immediately after the first egg is laid, and after 40 to 45 days the young hatch.[15] They are covered in fluffy white down and are fed for fifty days before they are able to make their first flight attempts and eat on their own. In most cases only the older chick survives, while the younger one dies without leaving the eyrie. This is due to the older chick having a few days' advantage in growth and consequently winning most squabbles for food. This strategy is useful for the species because it makes the parents' workload manageable even when food is scarce, while providing a reserve chick in case the first-born dies soon after hatching. Golden eagles invest much time and effort in bringing up their young; once able to hunt on their own, most golden eagles survive many years, but mortality even among first-born nestlings is much higher, in particular in the first weeks after hatching.
