Golden Eagle

About the Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is the great aerial predator of the American West, a dark, powerful raptor with a seven-foot wingspan and the golden nape that gives the species its name. In a stoop it can pass 150 miles per hour, and pairs hold vast territories over desert mountains and canyon country.

In Texas, Golden Eagles are birds of the Trans-Pecos, where they patrol the high ridges of ranges like the Davis and Guadalupe Mountains. Seeing one ride a canyon updraft without a single wingbeat is one of the signature experiences of far West Texas.

These photographs were taken in Dog Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, where an eagle worked the rimrock thermals overhead.