I was curious to know about the Golden eagle’s size. And it led me on a rabbit hole journey of Golden Eagles (searching/surfing through the internet for hours).
And here I brought to this compact article about the Golden eagle wingspan. I’ve covered all the aspects related to them and also compared them with other birds of prey.
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Golden Eagle Wingspan
In the Palearctic and northern Africa, the Golden Eagle may be found in a broad range of latitudes and habitats. The Golden Eagle is the most giant bird in North America, and its range covers around all of the Northern Hemisphere.
Birds are well known for their wings, which give them the ability to fly. The ability for them to fly is through their large wings.
This is mostly affected by their wingspan which is the distance between the tip of one of the wings to the tip of the other wing.
The Golden Eagle has a length of 66 to 102 centimeters (26 to 40 in) from the top to the bottom. And, on average Golden Eagles have a wingspan between 180 and 240 cm (73-87 in).
| Wingspan | Centimeter | Inch | Feet |
| Golden Eagle | 180 and 240 cm | 70.8-94.4 in | 5.11-7.8 ft |
Juvenile Golden Eagle Wingspan
Juvenile Golden Eagles are the young ones of the bird. While adult Golden Eagles have fully developed bodies as well as wings. However, the juveniles have very small wingspans and other body parts.
On average Juvenile Golden eagles have a wingspan range of 5-6.5ft (1.5-1.9 meters).
What Is The Largest And Average Golden Eagle Wingspan?
The Golden Eagle is one of the biggest and fastest raptors, with lustrous and shimmering gold feathers on the back of its head and neck. You might be wondering how large can these birds’ wingspans go.
So the wingspan of Golden Eagles varies a lot. Every bird has a different length of wings and so different wingspans.
Both genders of Golden Eagle can have a maximum and largest wingspan of 7 ft 8 in and an average size of around 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in).
Does the eagle wingspan affect flight?
The wings of birds are very important for the species. It gives them the ability to lift and so to fly.
The length of a bird’s wing is an essential scientific trait that allows it to fly. Larger wings move more air, hence at any given speed, a bird or plane with a large wing area compared to its mass, called low wing loading, will have more lift.
Bird wings are specially tailored to their way of life, from daily foraging to yearly migrations of thousands of kilometers.
As a result, birds with reduced wing loading may readily take off and land at a lower speed.
Therefore, it is true that the wings and the wingspan of birds are very important during their flight.
Golden Eagle Wingspan Compared To Humans
As the wingspan of birds is very crucial it is also important to see where they stand in comparison to other species such as humans.
Humans don’t have wingspans, instead, they have an arm span that is measured from the tip of one hand to the tip of the other.
On average humans have a wingspan and height of around 5.5-5.9 ft. However, the average wingspan of the Golden Eagle is 6 feet and 8 inches. You can imagine how small we’d look in front of them.
Imagine yourself standing in front of a bird whose wingspan is as big as your arm span. It is quite interesting how some Golden Eagles can also have a wingspan much larger than that.
Golden Eagle Wingspan Vs Bald Eagle Wingspan
Now that we have compared the Golden Eagle species with other species, let’s deep dive into the comparison between different types of birds of the same species.
The Golden Eagle and the Bald Eagle are both Eagles but are not the same, they have different physical appearances and also differences in their bodies. One of the parameters we can use to compare the two is their wingspan.
The golden and bald eagles tie for second place, with wingspan measurements ranging from 5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 8 in and 5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 7 in, respectively. While there is just a difference of one inch between the two birds, still the Golden Eagle wins the competition.
| Birds | Wingspan |
| Golden Eagle | 5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 8 in |
| Bald Eagle | 5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 7 in |
Golden Eagle Wingspan Vs Albatross Wingspan
Different species, done. The same type, done. Now comes the time to compare different types of birds.
Here we compare the Golden Eagle with the Albatross. The wandering albatross has the greatest wingspan on Earth, at roughly 12 feet—nearly double the wingspan of a bald eagle and the Golden Eagle!
While on one hand, the wingspan of a wandering Albatross is nearly 12 feet, the wingspan of the Golden Eagle is around 6 to 7 feet.
Almost double! It is literally so insane that a bird’s wingspan can be even bigger than the average height of a human.
| Birds | Wingspan |
| Golden Eagle | 5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 8 in |
| Albatross | 8-12 ft |
Golden Eagle Wingspan Vs Condor Wingspan
The Condors are also a different type of bird species, which generally have large wings and can fly much faster than other bird types such as the Golden Eagle.
For example, the California condor is from the family of Condors and has a wingspan of 2.89 meters (9.5 feet). On the other hand, as we know the wingspan of the Golden Eagle is 6 to 7 feet max.
Can you see the insane difference of 3 to 3.5 feet between the wingspan size of the two birds?
Both are large, but just like the Wandering Albatross the Golden Eagle also has a huge wingspan. It is also much greater than the average height of a human.
| Birds | Wingspan |
| Golden Eagle | 5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 8 in |
| Condor | 8- 10 ft |
Conclusion
And that was everything you need to know about the Golden eagle’s wingspan. I hope this article was informative enough and you got something useful from it.
Thank You For Reading!
Related Articles You May Like