Editing Golden eagle (section)

== Reproduction ==
{{main|Reproduction and life cycle of the golden eagle}}
[[File:Nid d'Aigle.JPG|thumb|right|[[Bird nest|Eyrie]] (in hollow at left center) in the Valley of the [[Siagne|Siagne de la Pare]], [[Alpes-Maritimes]], [[France]]]]
[[File:Aquila chrysaetos MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.88.3.jpg|thumb| ''Aquila chrysaetos'' - [[MHNT]]]]
Golden eagles usually mate for life. A breeding pair is formed in a courtship display. This courtship includes undulating displays by both in the pair, with the male bird picking up a piece of rock or a small stick, and dropping it only to enter into a steep dive and catch it in mid-air, repeating the maneuver 3 or more times. The female takes a clump of earth and drops and catches it in the same fashion.<ref name="Watson"/><ref name="Cornell2"/> Golden eagles typically build several [[eyrie (nest)|eyries]] within their territory (preferring cliffs) and use them alternately for several years. Their nesting areas are characterized by the extreme regularity of the nest spacing.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Watson, A. |author2=Rothery, P. |title=Regularity in spacing of Golden Eagle ''Aquila chrysaetos'' nests used within years in northeast Scotland |journal=Ibis |volume=131 |issue=3 |pages=336–348 |year=1986 |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1989.tb02783.x }}</ref> Mating and egg-laying timing for golden eagle is variable depending on the locality. Copulation normally lasts 10–20 seconds. Mating seems to occur around 40–46 days before the initial egg-laying.<ref name= Watson/> The golden eagle chick may be heard from within the egg 15 hours before it begins hatching. After the first chip is broken off of the egg, there is no activity for around 27 hours. Hatching activity accelerates and the shell is broken apart in 35 hours. The chick is completely free in 37 hours.<ref name= Ellis2/>

In the first 10 days, chicks mainly lie down on the nest substrate.<ref name="Ellis2" />   They are capable of preening on their second day but their parents keep them warm until around 20 days.<ref name="Watson" />  They grow considerably, weighing around {{convert|500|g|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Collopy3">{{cite journal|author=Collopy, M.W. |title=Parental care and feeding ecology of Golden Eagle nestlings |journal=Auk |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=753–760 |year=1984 |jstor=4086902 |doi=10.2307/4086902|doi-access=free }}</ref>  They also start sitting up more.<ref name="Ellis2" />  Around 20 days of age, the chicks generally start standing, which becomes the main position over the course of the next 40 days.<ref name="Ellis2" /> The whitish down continues until around 25 days of age, at which point it is gradually replaced by dark [[Pennaceous feather|contour feathers]] that eclipse the down and the birds attain a general [[piebald]] appearance.<ref name="Watson" /> After hatching, 80% of food items and 90% of food biomass is captured and brought to the nest by the adult male. Fledging occurs at 66 to 75 days of age in Idaho and 70 to 81 days in Scotland. The first attempted flight departure after fledging can be abrupt, with the young jumping off and using a series of short, stiff wing-beats to glide downward or being blown out of nest while wing-flapping. 18 to 20 days after first fledging, the young eagles will take their first circling flight, but they cannot gain height as efficiently as their parents until approximately 60 days after fledging. In [[Cumbria]], young golden eagles were first seen hunting large prey 59 days after fledging. 75 to 85 days after fledging, the young were largely independent of parents. Generally, breeding success seems to be greatest where prey is available in abundance.<ref name="Watson" />