THE GOLDEN EAGLE 



and its economic status 



Arthur Cleveland Bent aptly 

 summarized the present economic 

 status of the golden eagle when he 

 stated that it had "a powerful in- 

 fluence for either good or evil ac- 

 cording to the conditions of its habi- 

 tat."' The present study has aimed 

 at determining the nature of this 

 influence under the varied condi- 

 tions within the range of the species. 



To approach this goal, significant 

 life-history information was first 

 assembled as a background for an 

 understanding of the species. Data 

 were then gathered to aid in an ap- 

 praisal of the influence of the golden 

 eagle on certain wild and domestic 

 animals. Lastly, techniques useful 

 in the bird's management were 

 appraised. 



This study was first assigned to 

 Kalph H. imler, of the United 

 States Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 who conducted some of the earlier 

 field work and examined numerous 

 stomachs of these birds. Early in 

 1947 the writer conducted additional 

 field research and reviewed the lit- 

 erature. Among others who con- 

 tributed substantially to this pres- 

 entation were members of several 

 State game departments, including 

 Frank W. Groves of Nevada, Rob- 

 ert R. Elliott of Colorado, and Paul 

 V. Jones and O. F. Etheredge of 

 Texas. Charles C. Speri-y and nu- 

 merous field personnel of the United 

 States Fish and Wildlife Sei-vice 

 also contributed. 



RANGE 



The golden eagle, Aquila chri/.s- 

 aetos in its various subspecies, has 

 a circumpolar distribution in the 

 Northern Hemisphere (Peters 

 1931) . Despite barriers formed by 

 oceans, mountain ranges, and great 

 distances, only slight racial differ- 

 ences appear among golden eagles 

 living in widely separated regions. 

 The American race, Aqmla ehri/s- 

 aetos canadensis^ the only recog- 

 nized subspecies on this continent, 

 breeds from northern Alaska and 

 Labrador southward into Mexico 



and sparingly in the Appalachian 

 Mountains to western North Caro- 

 lina and eastern Tennessee. Its 

 principal breeding range in the 

 United States is in the area west of 

 the 99th meridian. The writer has 

 found it nesting from near sea level 

 in southern California to near tim- 

 berline in Colorado. During win- 

 ter it ranges below sea level in some 

 California valleys (Sumner 1929), 

 and it wanders casually over the 

 region east of the Rocky Mountains 

 south to the Gulf Coast. 



