How Long Do Eagles Live? Fascinating Lifespan Facts For Kids

The eagle is a majestic bird that dominates and soars the skies.

It has been one of the most renowned birds in the word. In fact, the Great Seal of America has the eagle on it, which just shows how high the eagle is held in esteem.

The eagle is a large predator bird that is downright scary. It is safe to say that eagles live without the worry of a large birds attacking, apart from other eagles and the great horned owl. The great horned owl may attack an eagle to make use of its nest tree, making eagle nests its own.

Speaking about the size of an eagle, it weighs roughly between 7-12 lb (3.1-5.4 kg), and the females weigh 30% more than the males, at about 10-12 lb (4.5-5.4 kg). An eagle's wing span is about 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m).

It is these wings that have allowed species of this bird, such as the golden eagle, to reach speeds of 149-198 mph (239.7-318.6 kph).

It is incredibly fast and will fly by in a blur of golden and brown. Similarly, the bald eagle is also a powerful flier, reaching speeds of 75-99 mph (120.7-159.3 kph) when it makes its dives during hunts.

Eagles eat what they hunt. They use their talons and sharp dives to swoop down from the sky and snatch up their prey either from the ground or from the water.

Eagles typically use fish as their food source, and tend to hold fish in their talons as they grab them from the surface of the water. It is a common myth that has some people believing that only young eagles are able to hunt, and their talons and beak become weak as they reach the age of 40.

This myth also propagates that hunting becomes very difficult and eagles die if they do not under go a process of rebirth, where they break and regain their beak and grow new feathers. These tales talk of how an eagle would painstakingly break its own beak against a rock, and then regrow it to rejuvenate itself.

Upon completing this process of rebirth, the eagle will then go on to live for another 30 years. Some people believe this myth tells how one must let go of the past in order to be better, live longer, and prosper.

However, the eagle cannot lose its beak and survive. e real, and learn not to trust myths like these at face value.

If you want to learn more about the beautiful animals in our world, make sure you check out do locusts bite and do male cats spray after being neutered.

The Average Lifespan Of An Eagle

Most birds seen in the sky, or in your backyards, live until they are two to five years of age. Some may even survive for 50 years. The eagle lives for much longer than most average birds.

The average bald eagle lifespan in the wild is 20-25 years. It may continue to survive after this as the eagle does not have any natural predators. The threats it primarily faces comes from other eagles who may attack them. These problems that an eagle in the wild faces reduces its life expectancy considerably.

How long do bald eagles live?

The bald eagle is a species of eagle that has been popularized and commonly seen out in the wild. Now we take a look at how long does the bald eagle actually live for.

Bald eagles' lifespan is about 25 years of age. It is a bird commonly found in North America, and the name scientists gave to it is Haliaeetus leucocephalus.

The Haliaeetus leucocephalus is from a group of raptors that is from the Accipitridae family. The oldest living bald eagle lived to the age of 47 years.

However, not all bald eagles can have this high of life expectancy as the one in question lived in captivity and was taken care of. It is common for the bald eagle to reach only 10% of its lifespan in the wild, and reach full sexual maturity at four to five years of age.

A bald eagle nesting pair mate and reproduce tiny bald eaglets which hatch from eggs. Now you must be wondering how many eggs are laid when the pair mates during the breeding season?

The females usually leave a clutch of two eggs, but may also lay four eggs at once. The eggs are then incubated in the nest for 40 days. Both a male and female bald eagle can do this.

Upon hatching, the young nestlings, which have a body weight of 3 oz (85 g), keep growing into fledglings and then into juveniles. Juvenile bald eagles keep coming back to the nest over this part of their lifespan.

Once these birds reach sexual maturity, they develop their adult plumage, which is golden in color and these birds grow in terms of body size. The wingspan increases to almost 7 ft (2 m). A bald eagle pair mates for life and they do not find a new mate every year.

The parents continue to build large nests that weigh up to 2000 lb (907 kg). These nests have a length of 10 ft (3 m).

The bald eagle pair dies somewhere near the age of 30. The pair lives in the same nest for life, tending to their young and resting here through the night.

The bald eagle is a protected species in the United States of America, as it is the national symbol of the country. A common threat faced by eagles everywhere is that when they fly near structures built by humans, they may be electrocuted by going too close to the power lines.

This is just one of the many threats that bald eagles face. The more interesting fact is that almost all of these threats do not come from other birds, apart from the members of these species that attack each other.

Additionally, these eagles are also killed by collisions with cars as well as eating food out of trash cans. If you find an injured eagle, do not hesitate to reach out to a wildlife service for help.

How long do golden eagles live?

Golden eagles are one of the species of this bird that are commonly found in the wild. The age of any species of eagle depends on where it lives, meaning if it lives in the wild or in captivity.

The golden eagle lives for 20-25 years in the wild. Golden eagles' lifespan can go up to more than 40 years if they live in captivity, largely due to a better and safer environment to live in and nutritious food being given to them.

You must be wondering if other birds do not prey on eagles, who do they need to be protect themselves from? The answer is other members of its species. They may attack them for a variety of reasons.

Additionally, this bird faces the threat of the great horned owl flying over to take over an eagle's nest, killing its young to make space for its own. These are the only two natural predators, apart from human beings, that lower the life expectancy of a golden eagle.

These birds have a wingspan of about 6-7.5 ft (1.8-2.2 m). It depends on the size of eagles. Members of this species that live in the northern part of their range have been seen to have larger wingspan.

What is the longest living eagle?

The longest living eagle in the wild was one that died quite recently. It was part of a group of banded eagles, meaning eagles that are tagged in order to be tracked.

This bald eagle's life was cut short at the age of 38, by a car accident.

It is a common problem that has seen lots of eagles die from and remains a larger issue that needs to be addressed. Different members of the species may be able to live longer and die at a later stage of life when in captivity as it has a generally safer and healthier life and plentiful access to food.

Additionally, eagles are able to recover from diseases and injuries under the watchful eyes of doctors.

While in recent times natural deaths are less of an occurrence, eagles do die from natural causes. These deaths occur when they get extremely old. Bald eagles can also die from a form of virus it picks up from its prey. The flavivirus can kill the bald eagle when it consumes infected prey.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for how long do eagles live then why not take a look at how long do foxes live or bald eagle facts.