Short answers, pulled from the story.
The golden eagle's scientific name is Aquila chrysaetos. Aquila is Latin for eagle, possibly derived from aquilus meaning dark in colour; chrysaetos comes from the Ancient Greek khrusos (gold) and aetos (eagle). The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and moved to the genus Aquila by French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.
A golden eagle can reach between 240 and 320 km/h when diving after prey, placing it among the two fastest living animals. When hunting or in territorial display, gliding speeds can reach up to 190 km/h. Typical unhurried soaring speed is around 45-52 km/h.
There are six recognised extant subspecies of golden eagle. The largest on average is Aquila chrysaetos daphanea, known as the berkut or Himalayan golden eagle, found across central Kazakhstan and the Himalayas. One captive female berkut had an authenticated wingspan of 2.81 meters.
The largest recorded golden eagle migration occurs at Mount Lorette in Alberta, Canada, where approximately 4,000 golden eagles may pass during the fall. The reliable thermals and updrafts produced by the mountain ranges there make long-distance soaring migration practical for the birds.
The golden eagle was the central emblem of Roman legions. A soldier called the aquilifer, or eagle-bearer, carried one eagle standard per legion. The position of these standards on the battlefield communicated troop movements, and losing a standard was considered deeply shameful; legions made great efforts to recover any that were captured.
The global golden eagle population is estimated at between 170,000 and 250,000 individuals, with breeding pairs estimated at 60,000 to 100,000. The IUCN does not consider the golden eagle threatened on a global scale. The species holds the largest known range of any member of its family, estimated at 140 million square kilometers.