<name key="Edward Raleigh">.

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GOLDEN EAGLES

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THE GOLDEN EAGLE

BY <name key="Edward Raleigh">

<name key="EDWARD RALEIGH">

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Contents

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Habitat

Eagles of all sorts can be seen soaring in the Mountains, Woodlands, Jungle, grassland, desert and the coast. They nest in or on cliffs and trees, and roost there at night. Northern Mountain eagles fly south in the Autumn to avoid the cold winter months. This is called Migration. One reason eagles are so wide spread is their ability to fly long distances over the ground. Another reason is Eagles have adapted over the years to the place they got to's food <reg>supply</reg>. All eagles build nests, and can build some of the largest nests in the world. They range from small platforms to huge piles of sticks large enough to hold an average human family! These nests are used again, and again, and <reg>again</reg> until they grow into massive great piles, the reason being that they are added to year, by year, by year. Golden eagles sometimes nest 1,500 ft up.

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Hunting and Diet

What an eagle eats depends on where he lives, i.e., salmon is choicest if you live by somewhere where it is found. If they do catch some it is taken to the nearest perch to be eaten. Golden Eagles are lucky in my opinion because <reg>nothing's</reg> tastier than plump rabbit to them. They also eat other things like carrion and smaller birds. Carrion is flesh they them-selves haven't killed. Fish eagles eat nothing Like that, but feed on shad, herring, and catfish and carp. They sometimes steal from other birds like the Osprey, forcing them to drop it, by chasing them. Golden eagles <reg>sometimes</reg> kill birds like geese, if they find them crippled or not. Eagles living by the sea eat the body of large sea animals that are washed up on to the shore or beach. Golden eagles sometimes eat rodents.

They use their keen eyes&ast; to spot their prey, then they dive, grab, kill, and carry them away. This is the <reg>general</reg> method, only fishers don't need to kill. They all use their talons to tear apart prey and eat them.

&ast;For more on <reg>eagles' eyesight</reg>, see "The <reg>eagle's</reg> body."

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The Golden <reg>Eagle's</reg> body

The largest Golden Eagles can weigh up to 12lbs (5.5 Kg) and have a <sic>wingspans</sic> of up to 8ft (2.5m). Golden Eagles have long wings so that they can glide. Golden Eagles have very, very, good eyesight, and they are believed to be 8 times sharper than <reg>human beings'</reg> eyes. The Golden Eagle can see a rabbit more than 2 miles away when up in the air. The Golden Eagle also has good hearing, so that they can catch the calls of other birds. Golden Eagles catch and kill prey with their talons and beak. Talons are the claws on their feet. They also use them for gripping tightly to branches. Golden Eagles have a very strong hind claw which is like our thumb, for this is the vice part of their foot, and helps them to carry their prey.

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<reg>Courtship</reg> and Mating

Golden eagles normally begin breeding at the age of about 4. This is about the time they get their adult plumage. As a youngster Golden Eagles have uniformly dark brown with white patches on the wings and tail feathers. At the foresaid time, or <reg>thereabouts</reg> they acquire their true colours of rich brown on the wing and tail feathers. Then, in the early spring they select a mate. Some biologists believe that they eagles pair for life, and if one is killed, the other mates again. The courtship is called "pair bonding". golden Eagle courtship rituals are some of the most beautiful wildlife spectacles you can see anywhere in the world, for these fantastic displays consist of diving, soaring, and zig-zagging together, chasing each other, roller-coasting, in which one of the eagles grabs the <reg>other's</reg> talons and dives and comes up again, but best of all is when they lock talons and go twisting and spiralling down to earth.

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NESTING AND LAYING EGGS

After mating, the Golden Eagle couple start to build their nest. Golden Eagles <reg>usually</reg> build quite big nests, because of their size. These nests grow over the years because of the fact that the Golden Eagles use their nests again and again, so they get bigger and bigger. They have more than one <reg>in case</reg> one is wrecked. The nests are often built with a <reg>view</reg> overlooking the territory, and are therefore built on cliffs and trees. The eagle pairs build them out of woven sticks. They are shaped like bowls so the eggs stay in. They often put pine needles in and grass for softness. Scientists think that the Golden eagles move nests, to prevent parasites, regularly. Golden Eagles can lay between 1 and 4 eggs, but often only 2. Their colours are dull white with brown <reg>patches</reg>.

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Incubation and Hatching

When the eggs are being incubated both the parents take turns to sit on them to keep them warm. The Male brings food to the female when she is sitting, and she to him. Golden Eagles almost never leave the nest alone because of predators, like crows and ravens, and because the eggs would chill if left for too long. So the parents simply cover up the eggs with some straw or nesting material to hide and protect them from the foresaid dangers. The length of incubation is about 40 days at least for Golden Eagles. The Parents will turn over the eggs to make sure all sides are warm. This makes the chicks <reg>develop</reg> properly. The chicks cut their way out using their eggtooth like a chisel. (Further Info about eggtooth unknown). The chicks then push the <reg>halves</reg> apart. The first day is spent resting, but on the 2nd day the parents are kept hard at it feeding them.

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Growing Up

After the eggs have hatched the chicks continually beg for food, keeping the parents very busy. The young very soon learn how to take and eat the slivers of meat from the beak of the adult. When the chicks have started to fledge, they first pass through a "downy stage". The silky down stays for 3-5 weeks. During this time, they are vulnerable to wind, rain and sun, so the parents must protect them very carefully. When the down is gone it is replaced by another. After a few weeks this too goes and feathers begin to grow. By this time they have started trying to eat the meat scraps that the parents drop into the nest. By about 8 weeks old they are fully feathered but still cannot fly. Their beaks and <sic>talon</sic> grow very quickly, for they will not be able to hunt without them at all. Their first few flights are short and quick. When they have fully learned to fly, they hang around learning to hunt. Then, when they can hunt, they <reg>drift</reg> off and away.

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The Dangers to Golden Eagles.

Because of their predatory nature, Golden Eagles have few or no <uncertain><reg>heed</reg></uncertain> on <reg>enemies</reg>, (Although their eggs are sometimes stolen by crows or their young attacked in the nest), so for Golden Eagles man is just about their only <reg>enemy</reg>. Golden Eagles have been trapped, shot, and poisoned by man not to mention electrocuted, (although not on purpose), and their habitat has been destroyed. Many people have shot and killed Golden Eagles because they thought <sic>it</sic> was killing their livestock. In most cases this was untrue. Others have been trapped for the same sort of reason. Man-Made poisons had one of the greatest effects on Golden Eagles and all other eagles during the 40's and 30's, when DDT was sprayed to protect crops <reg>against</reg> insects. The DDT sank into the earth, into streams, went into the sea, the fish got poisoned they were eaten by fish eagles, the fish eagles died, animals ate the fish, Golden eagles ate them, Golden eagles died. One big death toll is the result. <reg>Nowadays</reg> though, the Golden eagles are fairly well off because =

1. Dangerous pesticides are banned and 2. The R.S.P.B. is protecting nesting sites. (see "My day out with Golden Eagles).

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Birdwatching

First, what to wear.

Foot wear

Wellies are good for slurping around in mud, and are quite cosy for sitting in, say in a hide, but not for walking about for long. You would get blisters. So check what you will need before going to somewhere, say, somewhere like a <reg>marsh</reg> will need wellies, while forests and <reg>fields</reg> need walking boots. Be careful!

Clothes

For clothes you should wear layers, consisting of, say, a vest, T-shirt, sweater and water proof, then you can peel off a layer, whereas, if you wear a thick arran jumper, and oilskin jacket, then the sun comes out, then <reg>it's</reg> <reg>strip</reg> or boil. Coming <reg>back</reg> to water proof, experience and testing are all you can do to find which is best. And read the small print. The large print may say something like = "An <reg>impervious</reg> barrier against wind and water," with the small print saying = "and extra padding keeps it shower proof." Don't buy.

<reg>Equipment</reg>.

&bull; Binoculars = essential. Needs <reg>lens rainshield</reg>. 10x40 best.

&bull; telescope = unessential. Needs tripod. 10x40 best. Better magnification

&bull; Notebook and pencil = pocketsize.

&bull; <reg>Field</reg> guide = again, be careful, <sic>not-very-good-ones</sic> about.

This is what you will need, now, go get those birds!

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My day out with Golden Eagles

"The Journal" 6th August 1996

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When we were in Alnwick for the summer holiday, we found this cutting in "The Journal". When we got back home we decided to go there and see the chick. A map of the area, with how we got there on it and our route is below.

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Eagle area.

Key: = <gap desc="blue line"> = our walking route.

<gap desc="yellow line"> = our driving route.

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This is a photo of the valley half way to the site.

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Here is the site where the wardens watched over the eagles. They had telescopes set up so we could see the eagles. I saw the mother perching, the newly fledged chick feeding and the father flying.

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Funpage

Cross-word

words = Golden Eagle, osprey, hatch, chick, eggs, Fish Eagle, incubation.

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QUIZ PAGE

1. Name 2 species of eagle. 2. What are the 2 things Golden Eagles eat? 3. Roughly, how long does the silky downy stage last? 4. What was the name of the poison that had a great effect on the population of eagles? 5. What can the largest golden eagles weigh? 6. How many times sharper than human eyes are golden <reg>eagles'</reg> eyes believed to be?

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Bibliography

TITLE = The Eagle in the Mountains.

AUTHOR = J. Scott.

PUBLISHED = 1989

TITLE = Eagles.

AUTHOR = John Andrews.

PUBLISHED = 1989

TITLE = Birdwatching with Bill Oddie.

AUTHOR = Bill Oddie.

PUBLISHED = 1988.

Answers to Funpage

Crossword

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QUIZ

1. any 2.

2. rabbits and rodents.

3. 3-5 weeks.

4. DDT

5. 12 lbs (5.5 Kg).

6. 8x.

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