Description 
The Golden Eagle is a member of the true or booted eagles class. Golden eagles are larger than bald eagles in average height and wingspan, but there isn't much difference in average weight. Adult golden eagles are brown with tawny on the back of the head and neck; tail faintly banded.
One way to distinguish a golden eagle from an immature bald eagle is leg plumage. A golden eagle's legs are entirely feather covered; an immature bald eagle's lower legs are bare. As seen while in flight, juvenile golden eagles have white patches at the base of the primaries; the tail is white with a distinct dark terminal band. It takes four years to acquire adult plumage.
The golden eagles diet consist mainly of small grass-eating animals such as groundhogs, marmots, foxes, skunks, cats, rabbits, grouse, ground squirrels, crows, pheasants, meadowlarks, tortoises, and snakes.
Golden eagles mate at about four years of age, and often stay paired with the same mate for life. Females lay a clutch of one to three eggs, once a year. Most males do not share in the 41 to 45 days of egg incubation, but will bring food to the female. Both parents share the responsibilities of raising the young. They prefer to nest on rocky crags or slicer cliff faces, although they will occasionally build a nest in a tree, often returning annually to the same nest.
The eaglets weigh only three ounces when they are born. The young eaglets stay in the nest for nine to eleven weeks before they fledge.
Habitat
It lives in mountainous areas, prairie coulees, and other places where rugged terrain creates abundant updrafts. The golden eagle is a solitary bird and can be found in remote areas.
Threats
Current threats to Golden Eagles include the development of industrial wind farms along the ridges of the Allegheny Highlands. These north to south running ridges provide a major migratory pathway and are located near ideal habitats for these birds.
Golden eagles escaped the plague of DDT contamination, because their diet consists of small grass-eating mammals. However, deliberate poisoning, shooting, and trapping of golden eagles continues today, despite laws protecting them. The motivations behind this may be a misguided attempt to protect livestock or an intentional effort to obtain feathers for sale on the black market.
