The "King of the air" reaches a wingspan of up to 2.2 metres. As the only large predator in Switzerland, the golden eagle has survived times of ruthless persecution.

The "King of the air" reaches a wingspan of up to 2.2 metres. As the only large predator in Switzerland, the golden eagle has survived times of ruthless persecution, in which the bearded vulture, lynx, wolf and brown bear were all exterminated. In the meantime the eagle population has recovered and today is almost saturated in the Alps. Pairs of eagles get involved time and again in disputes over their territory through the large number of unpaired single eagles. Because of this they are often absent from their eyrie, which reduces the breeding success.

Status (in CH): frequent, rare breeding migratory bird.

Features: Older birds are almost uniformly dark; golden yellow coloured head; powerful beak; conspicuously long and very wide wings; young birds have white spots on the wings and on the root of the tail; females are larger.

(Source: Swiss Ornithological Institute)