Eagle (Golden) - Breeding

The golden eagle usually builds its nest, or eyrie, high up on a rocky crag up to 610m (2,000ft) above sea-level, although some eagles nest in trees. Within a territory, a pair may have two or three nests and use them in rotation. The nests are bulky piles of sticks, bracken and heather, lined with grasses.

The female lays two white, blotchy eggs, the first being laid in mid-March; she starts incubating the egg and then lays a second one three or four days later. Both eggs usually hatch but the youngest chick, born a few days after the first, either starves or is pushed out of the nest by the older chick - or even eaten by it! The surviving chick is ready to fly in 65 - 70 days.