--- title: "Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A hunter with a wingspan of up to 2.3 meters that dives at up to 120 mph (193 km/h) and, on autumn migration across eastern North America, rides mostly on wind pushed up by ridges." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/golden-eagle-1.webp" published: "2026-09-01" updated: "2026-09-28" --- # Golden Eagle (*Aquila chrysaetos*) > **Status**: Checked against 5 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A hunter with a wingspan of up to 2.3 meters that dives at up to 120 mph (193 km/h) and, on autumn migration across eastern North America, rides mostly on wind pushed up by ridges. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: IDM & Glitch Ambient Synthesis // Boards of Canada, "Dayvan Cowboy" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/1KxN9gwCISCArBytq80190) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G_dwaGlU_Q) > **Vibe Match**: Cinematic soaring guitars over nostalgic downtempo beats, for a raptor that dives at up to 120 mph (193 km/h) and, tracked on autumn migration, rode mostly on wind pushed up by ridges. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Aquila chrysaetos* - **Danger Level**: Medium - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2022-1.rlts.t22696060a210501592.en)) - **Superpower**: A dive of up to 120 mph (193 km/h) and a hunting style that often has one eagle drive prey toward its waiting partner. - **Habitat**: Open and semi-open, mostly mountainous country from sea level to 3,600 meters, including tundra, shrubland and grassland, across the Holarctic: Eurasia, northern Africa, and western North America from Alaska to central Mexico - **Diet**: Rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, and marmots as the primary diet, plus birds, reptiles, carrion when live prey is scarce, and occasionally a coyote, badger, or deer - **Tags**: raptor-bird, mountains, apex-predator, super-speed ## Natural History & Behavior ## A Fast Dive and a Hunting Partner The Golden Eagle (*Aquila chrysaetos*) stands 75 to 90 centimeters tall (2.5 to 3 feet), with a wingspan that stretches 1.9 to 2.3 meters (6.2 to 7.4 feet) tip to tip. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives females 3.6 to 6.6 kilograms and males 2.8 to 4.5 kilograms. A wild golden eagle can live up to 38 years, and up to 50 in expert care. It can hit up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) in a dive, in play or after prey. Golden eagles often hunt in pairs: one eagle drives the prey toward its waiting partner. The *talons*, the claws on the feet, kill and carry the prey, and the beak is only for eating. ## A Hunter Across the Northern World This is a Holarctic species, spread across the northern continents. Animal Diversity Web lists it throughout Eurasia, in northern Africa, and in the western half of North America from Alaska down to central Mexico, with small numbers in eastern Canada and scattered pairs in the eastern United States. It lives in open and semi-open country from sea level up to 3,600 meters, including tundra, shrubland, grassland, and coniferous forest, and most golden eagles are found in mountainous areas. Rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, and marmots are the primary diet, rounded out with birds and reptiles, and occasionally a coyote or badger. San Diego Zoo adds that it sometimes takes deer, and it may eat carrion when live prey is scarce. ## Riding Ridge Winds on Migration The migrations of soaring birds are shaped by weather that produces two kinds of uplift: thermal lift from rising warm air, and orographic lift from wind forced upward by the landscape. A GPS-tracking study followed golden eagles and turkey vultures during autumn migration across eastern North America to compare how each species used them. > **A different kind of lift** Turkey vultures nearly exclusively used thermal lift, while golden eagles primarily used orographic lift, the wind pushed upward as it hits a mountain ridge. ## Nests, Siblings and Lead A golden eagle pair mates for life and builds several nests within its territory over the years, adding material every year so each one gets bigger and bigger. The largest nest on record, according to Animal Diversity Web, measured 6.1 meters tall and 2.59 meters wide. The female usually lays two eggs, three to four days apart, and incubation lasts 41 to 45 days. The chicks hatch several days apart, and the oldest often attacks its younger sibling and sometimes kills it. In the western United States a pair's breeding-season home range covers 20 to 33 square kilometers, and the pair defends its boundaries with flight displays. Golden eagles have few recorded predators: wolverines and grizzly bears are the only recorded predators of their nestlings. A serious threat is lead from hunting ammunition. A tracking study found that even sublethal lead levels in scavenging golden eagles' blood can likely harm how high they fly and how fast they move, and lead levels in the livers of dead eagles suggested that such exposure raises the risk of dying. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How fast can a golden eagle dive? San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a golden eagle can reach up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) in a dive, whether it's chasing prey or just playing. *(Source: [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]())* ### Do golden eagles migrate on thermals like vultures do? Over eastern North America in autumn, mostly not. Researchers put GPS tags on both species there and found the vultures used rising warm air nearly exclusively, while the eagles primarily got their lift from wind deflected upward off mountain ridges. *(Source: [Bohrer et al. 2011]())* ### What's a serious modern threat to golden eagles? Lead from hunting ammunition. Eagles that scavenge the carcasses and offal of shot animals swallow fragments of lead ammunition. The study that tracked them found that blood lead levels as low as 25 parts per billion can likely affect how high they fly and how fast they move, and its authors call lead a considerably more serious threat to wildlife conservation than previously realized. *(Source: [Ecke et al. 2017]())* ## Sources 1. [Aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 2. [Golden Eagle. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.]() 3. [Westrip et al. (2022). Aquila chrysaetos. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T22696060A210501592.]() 4. [Bohrer et al. (2011). Estimating updraft velocity components over large spatial scales: contrasting migration strategies of golden eagles and turkey vultures. Ecology Letters.]() 5. [Ecke et al. (2017). Sublethal Lead Exposure Alters Movement Behavior in Free-Ranging Golden Eagles. Environmental Science & Technology.]() *Published September 1, 2026. 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The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T22696060A210501592", "url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2022-1.rlts.t22696060a210501592.en", "author": "Westrip et al.", "datePublished": "2022", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" }, "identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2022-1.rlts.t22696060a210501592.en" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Estimating updraft velocity components over large spatial scales: contrasting migration strategies of golden eagles and turkey vultures", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01713.x", "author": "Bohrer et al.", "datePublished": "2011", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Ecology Letters" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01713.x" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Sublethal Lead Exposure Alters Movement Behavior in Free-Ranging Golden Eagles", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b06024", "author": "Ecke et al.", "datePublished": "2017", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Environmental Science & Technology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b06024" } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Golden Eagle", "scientificName": "Aquila chrysaetos", "description": "A dive of up to 120 mph (193 km/h) and a hunting style that often has one eagle drive prey toward its waiting partner." } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/golden-eagle/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How fast can a golden eagle dive?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a golden eagle can reach up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) in a dive, whether it's chasing prey or just playing.", "citation": { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Golden Eagle", "url": "https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/golden-eagle", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance" } } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do golden eagles migrate on thermals like vultures do?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Over eastern North America in autumn, mostly not. Researchers put GPS tags on both species there and found the vultures used rising warm air nearly exclusively, while the eagles primarily got their lift from wind deflected upward off mountain ridges.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Estimating updraft velocity components over large spatial scales: contrasting migration strategies of golden eagles and turkey vultures", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01713.x", "author": "Bohrer et al.", "datePublished": "2011", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Ecology Letters" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01713.x" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What's a serious modern threat to golden eagles?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Lead from hunting ammunition. Eagles that scavenge the carcasses and offal of shot animals swallow fragments of lead ammunition. 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