The Golden Eagle

Aquila chrysaetos

By:  DeAnn

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:  Animalia
Phylum:
 Chordata
Class:  Aves
Order:
 Falconiformes
Familly:  
Accipitridae
Genus:
 Aquila
Species:
 chrysaetos


Natural History

Birds belong to the Class Aves and they are mammals.  Birds have been around for millions of years. All birds are vertebrates which means they have a backbone. They are warm-blooded animals. The golden eagle lives a long life. They live up to 30-45 years. The female golden eagle lays up to 3 eggs and it takes up to 35-45 days for them to hatch.

Habitat

The golden eagle lives throughout the Northern hemisphere. They are not that common in our western states like Alaska and western Canada. They are still known to nest in some numbers in eastern Canada.

Present Status

The Golden eagle is an endangered species which means that it can become extinct.

Physical Description

The females are a length of about one meter from the tip of the beak to the tip of of the tail. The males are smaller than the females. Their color is dark brown overall with white at the of the tail. golden-to -blond feathers on the back of the head. the bill and the claws are black and the feet are yellow. the tail is whit with a blck edge and big white patches on the underside of the wings.Adults weigh up to 9to12.5 ponds

Diet & Feeding Habits

The golden eagle hunts and eats other animals which means that it is a predator. It eats fish, ducks, beavers, and ground hogs, and other small animals.  The golden eagle is a carnivore.

Threats-Prospects for the Future

The United States has been protecting the golden eagle since 1963. Twenty thousand eagles were destroyed by ranchers, including shooting, accidental trapping, human distubances of nest sites, loss of essential open hunting habitat due to succession and fire control. The golden eagle is protected for the whole year, but a man with the right authority can give permission to shoot them. When the eagles are breeding the mountain organizations should restrict some tracks and restrain some mountain sports. We have organizations for protecting mountain animals such as Triglav National Park Organization.

Personal Essay

Wilderness is the unspoiled Earth. Without it, our society would die. The trees, the rivers, the mountains, the wildlife work together to provide the quality of living we know today. Like all wild animals, the golden eagle plays an important role in the wilderness by its size, being one of the bigger birds and predator to over-population of smaller animals.

The golden eagle began to come back after 1963.  Before then, they were getting killed by ranchers. Wilderness is valuable and should be protected.

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