What Does a Golden Eagle Look like?

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is usually the largest bird of prey in the region where it lives. It resembles a hawk but is much larger in size. Birds that look like golden eagles include juvenile bald eagles, turkey vultures, and black vultures. The golden eagle inhabits semiarid open country in western North America. A few individuals can also be found in parts of the east.

Table of Contents

Golden eagles are usually the largest bird of prey in the areas they inhabit.
Adults are dark to blackish brown.
Young birds have white wing patches and white tail bases.
Juvenile golden eagles acquire the adult plumage in 4 years.
Golden eagles can often be seen soaring, gliding, or perched on tall trees.
In some regions, golden eagles are only winter or summer visitors.

Golden eagle identification

When identifying golden eagles, it’s important to look at their size, shape, and color. An accurate identification will depend on how the bird behaves, the region it is observed, and what its habitat type is.

The time of the year is also important, particularly for birds like the golden eagle that perform short, medium, and long-distance annual migrations.

What does a golden eagle look like perched?

The golden eagle is usually the largest bird of prey in the regions where it lives. Some individuals are blackish-brown; others are golden-brown and have a more patterned plumage. This variation in plumage pattern, in part, has to do with the fact that golden eagles are always replacing their feathers (molting). Old feathers look faded while fresh ones look darker.

Golden eagle size and shape

Golden eagles are among the largest raptors in North America. Both golden and bald eagles are among the largest birds of prey after the huge California Condor.

Perched, golden eagles appear large and bulky. A perched bird has a small head and an obviously hooked beak. The chest and upper belly area are wide and taper down to the tail and wings.

In perched birds, the tips of folded wings do not extend beyond the tail.

The golden eagle plumage

Adult and juvenile golden eagles have different plumages. The adults are dark brown. Juvenile birds have white markings on their wings and white bases on their tails.

Individuals of all ages have ornate golden-brown feathers on the nape, back, and sides of their necks. The cere (nasal area) is yellow. The beak is black with gray at its base.

A juvenile bird molts multiple times before attaining adult plumage in four years.

Adult birds

Adult golden eagles have dark brown plumage with golden brown and cream-brown shades.

Adults have a brown tail with 2-3 pale bars that have a wavy pattern. The tail bars are poorly defined and can often be difficult to notice in the field.

Juvenile birds

Young golden eagles have a uniform darker-brown plumage that lacks the golden-brown shades of the adults.

Young golden eagles have white patches on their wings. The base of the tail is white with a broad black subterminal band.

The wing patches are made up of secondary and primary flight feathers. Patches are readily visible from below, but not so much from above.

The wing patches vary in size and shape. Some juvenile golden eagles have large patches, while others have small patches; some lack white patches entirely.

Molts in juvenile golden eagles

Chicks leave the nest in the juvenile plumage, which features the largest white wing patches and broadest base of the tail.

A young eagle’s molt is incomplete and occurs continuously. A juvenile eagle will only replace about 5 percent of its feathers in its first year.

In the second year, the molt continues at either a slower or faster rate depending on the availability of food and the health of the bird.

Studies of the molt of golden eagles determined that it takes 4 years for a young golden eagle to replace all the feathers of its first (juvenile) plumage and acquire the adult plumage.

As the young bird replaces its plumage, the white base of the tail and feathers that formed the white wing patches are replaced progressively for darker feathers to reach the dark-brown plumage of the adult.

What does an adult golden eagle look like in flight?

Adult golden eagles in flight look all dark with long and broad wings. No white wing patches and a white base of the tail are noticeable. The head is relatively small. Wingbeats are shallow. It soars and glides with slight dihedral. The top three silhouettes give an idea of what a golden eagle looks like when seen from a distance.

Bare parts

The golden eagle’s beak is mostly black with a gray base. The cere (nasal area) and gape (fleshy area at the base of the bill where the upper and lower mandibles meet) are yellow.

Golden eagles have feathered legs, which makes them different from most other North American birds of prey.

Unfeathered feet range from pale yellow (in chicks and juveniles) to deep yellow or gold in adults. Color variation in golden eagle feet is usually linked to nutritional status.

The claws are black

Young birds have dark brown eyes that turn light brown as they grow older. The color of the adult bird’s iris is variable ranging from brown to light hazel.

Golden eagle male and female

The golden eagle is a monomorphic species. That is to say, both the female and the male have the same plumage.

As with other birds of prey, females are larger than males:

Male and female measurements

Length (inches)	Weight (lb)	Wingspan (feet) (male and female)
27.5 – 39	5.1 – 10 (males) 7 – 14 (females)	6 – 7.2

Behavior

The golden eagle spends most of the day hunting. Using visual cues, they locate live prey on the ground from high perches or while soaring and gliding in the air.

on utility poles, and on tall trees. They can also be seen feeding on road-killed animals along the roadside.

Golden eagles soar and glide for long periods of time, especially during the warm parts of the day. They fly with a slight dihedral, not flat. At times birds hang in the wind but do not hover.

As well as hunting on the ground, the golden eagle engages in chases after running prey. A hunt on the ground is usually preceded by an attack from the air, during which the eagle failed to strike the prey.

Mated pairs may hunt together. One bird chases or distracts the prey, and the other attacks and kills it.

What does a young golden eagle look like in the air?

Juvenile and immature golden eagles (1 to 4 years of age) show distinctive white wing patches and a white base of the tail. Young birds undergo a partial but continuous molt replacing their juvenile plumage for the adult one in 4 years. Some adult birds may show white mottles under the wing even longer than 4 years. The white wing patches in juvenile birds vary individually. Some juveniles may have little to no white wing patches. The white base in the tail is consistent among young golden eagles.

Habitat

The golden eagles live in open and semi-open arid to semi-arid mountainous country, deserts, open grasslands, and farmlands with scattered trees and shrubs.

They avoid continuous woodlands and areas with urban development.

Distribution

The golden eagle is a year-round resident in most of western North America including central Mexico and southwestern Canada. Its range changes during the breeding and non-breeding seasons as eagles migrate to and from the breeding grounds further north.

In the winter season, eagles that bred in the northern region of North America, migrate back south.

Golden eagle breeding range

The range of the golden eagle expands to the north during the months of February through early October.
During the breeding season, golden eagles can be expected to be on the red range.

Golden eagle non-breeding range

The range of the golden eagle contracts latitudinally and expands longitudinally during the months of late August through February.
During the non-breeding season, golden eagles can be expected to be on the blue range.

Birds that look like a golden eagle

Golden eagles can be distinguished from other birds of prey in North America by their large size and the dark color of their bodies. In addition, the wings are longer and narrower than those of other smaller raptors.

It resembles most closely the juvenile bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in its brown plumage. Bald eagle adults have white heads.

Golden Eagles can also be confused with other large birds, such as the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), or California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)

Golden eagle vocalizations

It would be difficult to identify a golden eagle by its voice because they rarely vocalize. They do so only for specific reasons.

Both birds make calls when they meet at the nest or in the air.

A bird will vocalize when bringing food, nesting materials, or switching incubation roles.

During the breeding season, vocalizations are more frequent.

Chicks are more vocal as they beg for food when the parents bring food to the nest.

Voices of golden eagles

Calls are given by a soaring bird. Recording by: Luc Souret (Xeno-canto).

Begging calls of baby golden eagles in the nest. Recording by: Simon Elliot (Xeno-canto).