Golden eagles get their name from the warm golden-brown feathers on the back of their head and neck, which shimmer in sunlight. The rest of their plumage is dark brown. Young eagles look quite different from adults — they have striking white patches on their wings and tail that gradually disappear as they grow up over five or six years.
Eagles build enormous nests, called eyries, on high cliff ledges or in the tallest trees on steep slopes. They use the same nest year after year, adding more sticks, grass, and greenery each spring. After decades of additions, an eyrie can be over two metres tall and weigh as much as a small car.
A golden eagle's eyesight is roughly four to eight times sharper than a human's. Soaring at 300 metres above the ground, it can spot a rabbit crouching in the grass below. Its eyes are so large in proportion to its skull that they cannot actually move in their sockets — instead, the eagle turns its entire head to look around.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, golden eagles nest in the mountain ranges and gorges of Sutjeska and the surrounding highland areas. They are the apex aerial predators of these mountains, meaning no other bird hunts them.