Golden Eagle (Phoenix Zoo - Arizona Trail)

Golden Eagle

Aquila chrysaetos

Summary ⁷

The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their napes. Immature eagles of this species typically have white on the tail and often have white markings on the wings. Golden Eagles use their agility and speed combined with extremely...

Distribution ⁸

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) In North America, breeding occurs from western and northern Alaska eastward through Northwest Territories to Labrador, and south to northern Mexico, Texas, western Oklahoma, and western Kansas, and in eastern North America southward to New York and northern New England (rare). See Lee and Spofford (1990) for a review of nesting records from the central and southern Appalachians (most nesting records south of the Adirondacks are doubtful). Golden eagles breed also in the Palearctic. The winter range in North America extends from south-central Alaska and southern Canada southward through the breeding range, and casually farther southward. In the United States, the species is most numerous in winter in the Rocky Mountain states, Great Basin, and western edge of the Great Plains (Root 1988). See Milsap and Vana (1984) for information on winter range in the eastern United States. Northernmost populations in Eurasia winter south to northern Africa (Sibley and Monroe 1990).

Iucn red list assessment ⁹

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2013

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Butchart, S.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History