You walk outside your front door and feel the fresh breeze - all of a sudden you hear a loud rasping KEE-KEE-KEE that is the voice of a golden eagle. Then the mighty and powerful bird swoops down and picks up its prey, a small jack- rabbit. The large bird swoops behind a tree . Did you know the golden eagle is found from sea level to10,000 feet in all western states, like Alaska, Canada, and Mexico? It's typical habitat is rugged rocky canyon country. If you were to go up to a golden eagles nest and looked inside you would see 2 to 3 or 4 white eggs with brown speckles.

I got my info from COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke.

If you see a bird that is 35 inches long, has a huge scowl and has a wingspan of 8 feet, you've probably seen a golden eagle. Does it live in the mountains? If not, it might be a hawk. The golden eagle is amazingly light for its size. Wow! it even weighs less than a medium size dog. The female golden eagle lays one to three eggs at a time. The babies hatch 6 or 7 weeks later. The little golden eaglets (baby eagles) look pretty much like baby bald eagles. Later when the eaglets grow up, they have to leave their nest and their parents. They take flight. Now the eaglet is hungry after its long trip away from home, so it goes to find some prey, like maybe some yummy reptiles or a nice otter or other tasty little critters. After the golden eagle finishes his genuine cuisine, he builds a big bulky nest high up in the trees. Then he finds a female golden eagle, and they mate for life.

Years ago you may have heard, "Bang, bang," "Awwwkkk!" Somebody is trying to kill the golden eagle. Oh no, it must be a farmer trying to protect his crops from those eagles. The golden eagle would soon be extinct at this rate. Farmers kept killing golden eagles and they almost did become extinct. So, eagles are now put in wildlife preserves or they roam around in the wild and are protected by law.

I got all this information from EAGLES by Michael Bright, published by Franklin Watts.

Illustrated by Erin E. and Emily S.

 One sunny day you see a flash of gold fly through the sky looking for it`s prey or soaring over its home. It could be some kind of bird, but does it have two beautiful golden wings? If it does, and it also has a long pointed beak, then it is a golden eagle! The golden eagle's is also know as the booted eagle. It is one of the most numerous eagles and the best known. It lives in mountains around North America, Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. The eagle's nest is built out of sticks and mud. The size of the sticks is usually as big as a man's wrist and up to 5 feet long! The eggs are white with gold speckles. They are one of the largest bird eggs. They take 35 to 45 days before hatching. The golden eagle's babies are a grayish, whitish color. The baby is ready to fly 70 days after hatching. And when it grows to be an adult eagle it will look for a big empty space of land for its home. Most eagles have a hunting range of 25 square miles to 100 square miles or more! The adult eagle is a plain brown with amber tipped feathers. They can get up to 7 to 13 pounds and 30 to 36 inches long. The female is usually 13 pounds and up to one third larger than the male! It has a 6 foot wingspan. Raccoons are enemies to the eagle because they eat their eggs.

I got my information from THE BOOK OF EAGLES by Helen Roney Sattler.

If you see a brown bird with a good size beak, it may be an eagle. Does it have golden brown feathers? Is it pretty big? If so, it is a golden eagle. The golden eagle and the bald eagle are the only eagles found in the United States. The golden eagle is found all over Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and other western states. In Colorado they are found on the plains, canyons, and mountain sides. They have gold feathers on their heads and they have brown feathers everywhere else including their legs. Usually only two eggs are laid. Only the females sit on the eggs. Incubation lasts about thirty-five days. By 7 weeks the babies will get their big feathers. When they are 4 or 5 years old they will choose their mate. They will build a nest 100 miles from the nest they were raised in. To attract a mate they will do somersaults in the air and do tricks. They stay together for all of their lives. If one mate dies, the other one will get a new mate. They can fly without any effort. The golden eagle can swoop down and catch it's prey at 200 miles per hour. The golden eagle eats herons, ducks, rabbits, and skunks. The golden eagle can go up to two days without food

I got my information from EAGLES, HAWKS, AND OTHER BIRDS OF PREY by Lynda Dewitt.