# Golden eagle in Michigan



## Sasquatch Lives

A friend says he has seen a golden eagle in Gladwin CO. this year. I have seen the bird as well as it tends to patrol a strip of CRP near a big field but I haven't seen it close enough to confirm. Is it possible?


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## JBooth

Only one I ever saw was in the UP. Can't imagine there is anything that restricts them though. Any competition would be quickly dealt with.


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## badercmu123

Could they have been adolescent bald eagles? Most are a mixture of brown and white feathers with no distinguishable white head.

I do not think there are any goldens in the midwest, but maybe one got lost on his way home.

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## JBooth

There is no doubt the one I saw in the UP was a Golden. We saw it on a carcass, with a bunch of bald eagles and crows. From distance I thought it was a crow with starlings and sparrows if that gives any perspective. The thing was so much larger than the bald eagles it was scary.


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## old professor

I have also seen a Golden Eagle in the UP. They aren't what I would a common sighting but they do show up in the UP, so why not in the LP?


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## J-Lee

I know a couple of years ago, there was one hanging out on the Pere Marquette by Baldwin.


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## M1Garand

JBooth said:


> There is no doubt the one I saw in the UP was a Golden. We saw it on a carcass, with a bunch of bald eagles and crows. From distance I thought it was a crow with starlings and sparrows if that gives any perspective. The thing was so much larger than the bald eagles it was scary.


Generally they are very similar in size with very few inches in wingspan and length separating them. Goldens tend to prefer mammalian prey so if you have any small dogs or cats around.....be a pretty cool sighting though, time to start carrying a camera.


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## hunterjon313

Iv never seen one, just pics. It seems like u couldnt miss it.... these things are massive, I say keep your dogs, cats and small children inside ..lol...i would love to see one in the wild tho!!!

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## hunterjon313

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## Stick Slingur

Yep, saw an immature one last year in T.C. area in the spring. It was probably passing through. The immature golden is unmistakable with the white patches on its underwings. It was swooping at a bald eagle as if trying to drive the baldy away. Very cool!


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## Tagz

Many people confuse immature bald eagles for golden eagles. This is a path though during golden eagles migration. Numbers in Michigan usually peak at the end of October when they pass thru. At lake Erie count site the peak number during those days last Oct was upper 40's seen. That was for 2 days then the numbers drop to a couple or none for the following days.

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## Tagz

Just an example of how similar.








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## M1Garand

Immature raptors can be hard to ID that's for sure.


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## Stick Slingur

good pics for comparison Tagz, confirms my sighting was a golden. flying over head on a sunny day it almost looked like you could see through the wings


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## yooper36

there is one that hangs out near the power plant here in the soo, we've see him for the last couple of years off and on, way bigger that the bald eagles that hang out there


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## Stick Slingur

The baldy is actually slightly bigger than the golden

Golden L 32" W 78"
Bald L 32" W 80"


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## Tagz

On average goldens are larger than bald eagles. But its not a noticeable amount. Which makes me wonder when some people post about seeing a bird huge compared to a bald eagle and thinking its a golden. More than likely its male compared to female.

In birds of prey females can be 1/3 larger than the males. My male Red-tailed hawk weighs in at about 2 lbs. But I know people with females at 3 lbs. And you can really notice it when you see a mated pair of RT hawks in michigan soaring together. One just looks so much bigger.

Also they do not get bigger with age. Once you see that bird flying on its own, its full grown.


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## WAUB-MUKWA

Most golden sightings are immature bald eagles. Being closer to the flyway here you see a couple every year but most are just young bald eagles elsewhere. Don't forget the fish hawks too, the ospreys while you're at it.


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## kriffel

This November and December I have been seeing 2 bald Eagles and 2 Golden eagles combing the beach in front of my house in Pentwater. Sometimes at the same time. I originally thought the goldens were immature bald eagles, until I saw them together. 

The golden eagles were definitively larger than the bald eagles. This is my first year living here, so I'm not sure if they are resident or seasonal or what.


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## Robert Holmes

They are becoming more and more common in Michigan. I see loads of Bald Eagles every year in the EUP and NLP one of the benefits of living where I do. Every year I see a few more Golden Eagles they do exist and breed in Michigan, not just passing through. If it is a mature bird and it does not have a white head/tail it very well may be a golden.


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