Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Golden Eagle
The golden eagle is an iconic bird of the Scottish Highlands and Rannoch is fortunate in having a resident population. The golden eagle was greatly persecuted in the past but now has the highest possible legal protection under the wildlife and countryside act of 1981 (Schedule 1 protection). In spite of this a study by Scottish Natural Heritage suggests that persecution still persists in certain areas.
It is majestic in flight with up to a seven foot wingspan, the females as is usual in birds of prey, is larger than the male. They are most often seen soaring high in the mountains against a blue sky. In silhouette they can be distinguished from the much smaller buzzard by the longer tail and a slower wing beat. Their eyesight is superb and once prey is spotted the eagle will go into a shallow dive that can achieve 125 miles an hour. The prey is often mountain hares or ptarmigan but carrion is also eaten.
The usual site for an eyrie is on an inaccessible cliff but in Perthshire they will also use pine trees. There is one local site which has probably been used for hundreds of years where there are a number of eyries in a group of Scots pine trees. The eyrie is an untidy mass of sticks.
As golden eagles are ‘schedule one’ birds in terms of legal protection it is illegal to approach their nests in the breeding season. About twenty five years ago in July of that year I and three others were watching an eyrie from a quarter of a mile away through binoculars. We were shocked to see that a man had climbed right up to the nest to photograph the eaglet which was by then not far off flying.
It was in quite a remote spot but I was able to track the man back to his car and gave the police his number. He was traced to Liverpool and the police found many illegally collected birds eggs in his house.
Sightings of golden eagles are always memorable - whilst walking high on Schiehallion I was able to look down on an eagle as it flew past. When checking off runners in the Buachaille Dash endurance race on the summit of Buachaille Etive Mhor an eagle appeared close by and slipped effortlessly into a shallow glide. Within a minute it was over Blackwater reservoir miles away. To the south of Loch Rannoch I have seen an eagle shrug off mobbing gulls, outpacing them with ease.
Golden eagles pair for life and will defend their territory vigorously. Most are sedentary but in some northern parts of the world they are partial migrants if food supplies are difficult in winter. Most populations are found in remote mountainous regions but in some parts of their range they live in lowlands.
They are powerful hunters with formidable talons with which they can grasp and kill large prey. In Asia they are even used to hunt wolves. Their eyesight is 4 or 5 times better than humans and they are said to be able to see a rabbit at 3.2 kilometres distance.
In Scotland the only threat to golden eagles is mankind. The Tayside raptor group keeps a close eye on their well-being in Highland Perthshire.
Attempts to reintroduce eagles to England have not yet been successful but there has been some success in Donegal Ireland. Golden eagles have a wide global range (see map).
(4th January 2020)
Public Domain - credit Richard Lydekker
Creative Commons - credit Rizkuwait
Creative Commons - credit Chuck Abbe
Lime Green - Breeding, Dark Green - Resident, Blue - Non-breeding.
(Public domain) Credit - SanoAK & Alexander Kurthy