The Golden Eagle is a very large, dark-brown bird of prey. Adults have light brown feathers on the back of the head, neck, and upper wings. They have gold-flecked brownish eyes, and the bald eagle’s eyes are much more yellow. These young birds have not yet attained the characteristic white-headed plumage of adulthood.
The golden eagle typically hunts in dry, rugged open country and grasslands, over which it soars in search of small mammals and other prey. It likes to nest on cliffsides. They will usually construct a large stick nest on a cliff ledge. However, they will occasionally nest in trees, and, in the far north, will often nest directly on the open tundra.
About 3 months before egg-laying, the Golden Eagle pair will prepare a nest out of sticks and plant material. These nests will sometimes incorporate other materials in them, like animal bones, fencing wire, and even fence posts. They line the nest with locally available vegetation, such as grasses, bark, leaves, mosses, lichens, or evergreen boughs. They often include aromatic leaves, possibly to keep insect pests at bay. The birds will continue using the same nest for multiple seasons, adding more material each year. Nests can become very large, the largest nest recorded was 6 meters tall and 1.5 meters across.
The golden eagle has a widespread distribution in the western parts of North America, and from Asia and Europe to North Africa. To the east, it occurs across northern Canada, and in forested mountain regions of the eastern United States, where it is extremely rare. They are fairly common in the Pacific Northwest.
They can easily kill large prey, yet they seem to prefer smaller animals like rabbits, prairie dogs and squirrels.