U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Golden Eagles Status Fact Sheet

have been noted to be sensitive to some shape, and distribution of golden eagle forms of human presence. Golden Eagles nesting territories vary with topography lay one to four eggs, with two eggs being and prey availability. Disturbances near most common and four eggs most rare. areas that are important for roosting or The laying interval between eggs ranges foraging can stress eagles to a degree between three to five days. that leads to reproductive failure or mortality elsewhere Golden Eagle Migration Golden Eagles will migrate from the Protection of Golden Eagles Canadian provinces and northern tier Bald and Golden eagles are protected by and northeastern states to areas that three federal laws: The Bald and Golden are milder in the winter and/or may Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory have less snow cover. During winter, Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act. Golden Eagles are found throughout These laws prohibit the possession, use the continental United States. Golden and sale of eagle feathers and parts Eagles tend to migrate during midday as well as a number of other activities, along north-south oriented cliff lines, including the transportation of eagles ridges, and escarpments, where they and feathers and parts that have been are buoyed by uplift from deflected illegally obtained. The Eagle Act has winds. Golden Eagles will forage during prohibited take of Bald Eagles since migration flights and use lift from 1940 and Golden Eagles since 1962. Take Golden Eagle heated air from open landscapes to move Photo: George Gentry/USFWS means pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, efficiently during migration and seasonal wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, destroy, movements, gliding from one thermal to molest, or disturb. Such restrictions help Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos the next and sometimes moving in groups ensure the future viability of eagles in the canadensis) can be found from the with other raptor species. wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tundra, through grasslands, forested has long recognized the religious and habitat and woodland‐brushlands, south Status of Golden Eagles cultural significance of eagles to Native to arid deserts, including Death Valley, The most recent survey of Golden Eagles Americans and works to accommodate California. They are aerial predators across four large Bird Conservation these special needs. The Service operates and eat small to mid‐sized reptiles, birds, Regions (BCRs) in the West (80 percent the National Eagle Repository as a and mammals up to the size of mule deer of the species’ range in the lower 48 clearinghouse for eagles and eagle parts fawns and coyote pups. They also are states is in these BCRs) provided an to provide Native Americans with eagle known to scavenge and utilize carrion. estimate of 20,722 Golden Eagles of all feathers for religious and cultural use. ages across the survey area. The best Golden Eagles build nests on cliffs or in available survey data the U.S. Fish and the largest trees of forested stands that Wildlife has for Golden Eagles indicate, often afford an unobstructed view of the at best, a stable population in the four surrounding habitat. Their nests are Bird Conservation Regions, with a usually, sticks and soft material added possible decline in the population of to existing nests, or new nests that are juvenile Golden Eagles in the southern constructed to create strong, flat or bowl Rockies. The Service extrapolates those shaped platforms. survey data to estimate that there may be 30,000 Golden Eagles across the Golden Eagles avoid nesting near urban United States. However, Golden Eagle populations are believed to undergo a habitat and do not generally nest in U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service densely forested habitat. Individuals (roughly) ten year cycle, so having only four years data (surveys 2006 – 2009) http://www.fws.gov will occasionally nest near semi‐urban 1800/344 WILD areas where housing density is low and in limits the Service’s ability to assess the long-term population trend. Size and farmland habitat; however Golden Eagles February 2011