Great spotted eagle interesting facts. spotted eagle bird

Aquila clanga Pallas, 1811

Spreading: Inhabits forest and forest-steppe zones to the north. to approximately 64°N. V European Russia and in the Urals, up to 62° N. in the Ob valley, 63° N. in the Yenisei valley, 54° N. in the Baikal region, 53° N. in Transbaikalia, 52° N. in the Amur Valley and Primorye up to 49° N. South the range boundary runs approximately at 50° N latitude. in the bass Don, 53° N in the Volga valley, in the Asian part - along the state border of Russia. Outside Russia, the range extends to the west. to Finland, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, to the east. to North-East China.

Habitat: It nests mainly in tall, but not too dense, often swampy, forests located near water bodies: in river valleys, lake basins and among swamps. A necessary requirement is the presence of open feeding biotopes near the nesting site: floodplain meadows, swampy clearings, wastelands, swamps. Monogamous, sexual maturity occurs at 3-4 years of age. Nesting sites take many years. The massive nest is located in a fork of the main trunk, often on deciduous trees. There are 2 eggs in the clutch, but one of the chicks almost always dies from the cannibalism of the second, so only one young bird flies. It feeds on a variety of vertebrates from hares to voles, the main diet being mouse-like rodents and amphibians. Winters in the southeast. Transcaucasia, Iran, Mesopotamia, India, Burma, and also in Egypt.

Number: The status of populations and population trends vary in different regions. In the forest-steppe of the European part of Russia it was under threat of complete extinction. Apparently, it has completely stopped nesting in the Kaluga, Tula and Voronezh regions. . In the Lipetsk region. There are 5-7 pairs left at the nesting site. In a number of regions of the forest-steppe Cis-Urals, the number remains quite high. In the forest areas of the center, north-west. and zap. In the European part of Russia, the number, compared to the first half of the century, has not decreased so significantly; now there is no sharp decline in the number; in some places it is stable. In the Tver region. About 30 pairs nest, in Moskovskaya - at least 10-15. 7-9 pairs have been nesting in the Oksky Nature Reserve for many years. In the Kaliningrad region. 10-14 pairs, the number increased slightly in the second half of the century. In the Leningrad region. no more than 18-20 pairs live. In the Upper Volga region the species is very rare and is in danger of complete extinction; a catastrophic decline in numbers has occurred over the past 30 years. In the Volga-Kama region in the first half of the 70s. the number decreased by 2.9 times and in the middle of this decade amounted to 1 individual/200 km of route. In the Perm region. There has been a strong decline in numbers and currently no more than 20 pairs are nesting. In the Asian part of the range, the number is very uneven. The spotted eagle has become extremely rare in the Middle Urals. In the 60s it was numerous in the Baraba Lowland - 3-24 pairs/100 km2 and on the Zeya-Bureya Plain in the Amur Region. - 1.3-2.7 pairs/100 km2. There are no modern data on the status of these populations. Survey data in other regions indicate the small number of the species. In Tyva, on an area of ​​1514 km2, only 3 nests were found. In the Malaya Sosva Nature Reserve (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), 1-3 pairs nested on an area of ​​922 km2. The species is not found at all in the region of the Bratsk Reservoir. and to the West. Altai. In general, the number of Greater Spotted Eagles in Russia does not exceed 3 thousand breeding pairs, of which 800-1000 live in the European part and, apparently, about 2 thousand in the Asian part. Among the anthropogenic factors, the nesting of the species is most negatively affected by the drainage and plowing of floodplain meadows, the cutting down of nesting trees and the drainage of swampy forest areas, and the increase in the disturbance factor (especially in the forest-steppe zone).

Security: Listed in the IUCN-96 Red List, Appendix 2 of CITES, Appendix 2 of the Bonn Convention, Appendix 2 of the Berne Convention, Annexes of bilateral agreements concluded by Russia with India and the DPRK on the protection of migratory birds. Individual nesting sites are protected in the Oksky, Mordovsky, Voronezh, Malaya Sosva, and Khingansky nature reserves; Meshchersky national park, state complex Zavidovo. In the country's zoos there are only 2 individuals (Kaliningrad and Lipetsk), reproduction for last years not registered . Nests located in unprotected areas should be declared natural monuments, with installations around the nest security zone, with a complete ban on logging and reclamation work. It is advisable to build artificial nests and work on keeping one of the chicks in an aviary during the critical period of cannibalism, with subsequent return to the nest.

Today we will look at another representative from the accipitridae family, namely the greater spotted eagle. The bird leads a hidden lifestyle, and therefore it is not possible to study it thoroughly. However, there is information regarding distribution, nutrition, reproduction and general characteristics breed group. Otherwise, spotted eagles are called hermits, because they prefer to stay alone and also do not like to be near people.

Habitat and description

1. The birds of the family under discussion are medium-sized. However, some scientists classify them as individuals famous for their large sizes. Again, it all depends on who you compare it to. So, the spotted eagle grows up to 75 cm in length, the body weight of an individual varies between 1.5-3 kg.
2. Sexual dimorphism is clearly visible, females are larger than males. There is also the Lesser Spotted Eagle, its larger brother is larger, as the name suggests. But if you meet birds in the field, they can easily be confused. Only an experienced eye can determine the category.
3. Individuals are uniformly colored in feather color. They are brown and dark. However, the area under the tail, the occipital part, and the sternum are light. Blackish or brownish feathers are visible on them. It is extremely rare to find birds that, against the background of a brown tint, are also yellowish or buffy.
4. The young animals have light plumage and have droplet-shaped spots in the upper section of the body. You can also find individuals whose main shade is sandy yellow or ocher. The color of the claws and beak is black, the nostril area and the paws themselves are yellowish. On the legs, feathers extend all the way to the hands.
5. In terms of distribution, these birds can be found in cooler parts of Europe, be it Poland or Finland. They also live in Mongolia, Hungary, Pakistan, and China. In the vast expanses of our homeland, spotted eagles have been spotted in the Kaliningrad region and all the way to Primorye.
6. For the winter, the birds are collected and transported to Indochina, India, and Iran. Since individuals are predators, they are found in meadow-steppes, swampy areas, near rivers, reservoirs and lakes. It is in this area that the spotted eagle looks for and drives prey.
7. Birds prefer to live on flat or high terrain. They often live in mountains whose height extends for 1 km. up. As for hunting, individuals prefer to look for food on the ground or wait for its arrival, observing from the air. The diet consists of rodents of various families, as well as small birds or reptiles.
8. Spotted eagles build nests for future offspring in tall trees. Moreover, after construction, this home will be used from year to year. Laying occurs in late spring; usually the expectant mother lays up to 3 eggs. But in most cases there are two.
9. After the female lays the first egg, she immediately begins incubation, rather than waiting for the second one to appear. Partly for this reason, chicks are born at intervals, but the last chick usually dies due to competition with the first.
10. When the generation grows up to 2 months, it can fly. These individuals grow and learn quickly, and soon they, together with their father and mother, go to a wintering place. The Greater Spotted Eagle is protected as an endangered and rare species.

Lifestyle

1. Representatives of the family are monogamous; they wait 4 years to reach sexual maturity. Some individuals mature earlier and can reproduce at 3 years of age.
2. They build a home for future offspring together. Then they arrive every year to lay and incubate eggs. Since reproduction is quite fast, soon the parents fly back with the chicks to warmer climes.
3. According to their natural characteristics, birds can be classified as cannibals. That is, when the female laid eggs and they hatched at a certain interval, then a fight begins between the chicks. The older one simply eats the younger one.
4. If the laying is carried out in May, then in the fall the family of birds with their replenishment can go to winter. Africa, Europe, and Asia are chosen as warm regions.

1. It is worth noting that the individuals in question have a fairly wide habitat. If you look from the other side, an interesting fact remains that the birds presented do not have subspecies.
2. Numerous studies have confirmed the fact that individuals of two closely related species may well interbreed with each other (lesser and greater spotted eagle). The result is completely viable hybrids.
3. Unfortunately, this type is declining worldwide. Therefore, the birds are listed in the Red Book. Such individuals are rapidly disappearing from their usual habitats. The Far Eastern and European populations are protected on the territory of the Russian Federation.
4. Such individuals are closely guarded. Due to widespread deforestation, the species' numbers are declining. The problem is that such birds nest on the crowns tall trees. People constantly disturb the habitat of wild animals and birds.
5. Birds are monogamous and build their own nests. They can also occupy old empty nests. Such individuals camouflage their home very well. They cover it with spruce and aspen branches.
6. During the mating season in early spring, such individuals make very interesting sounds. Because of such calls, the birds in question can be heard at a distance of 3.5 km. In common parlance, this is why the individuals in question are called “Screaming Eagles.”

Spotted eagles are unique individuals of their kind. Unfortunately, they have no subspecies. Their population is declining sharply due to human activity. Eagles are listed in the Red Book. The number of birds is very small, even despite their extensive habitat.

Video: Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

The Greater Spotted Eagle is a bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae, the genus eagles. Nests in of Eastern Europe and central Asia. In winter it migrates to northeast Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In total, representatives of the species cover 5.5 thousand km during migration. They fly from 150 to 280 km per day. The habitat includes meadows, banks of rivers, lakes, swampy areas, mixed forests. These birds can be found at altitudes of up to 1 thousand meters above sea level.

The feathered predator reaches 59-72 cm in length. The wingspan is 158-180 cm. Body weight varies from 1.6 to 3 kg. Females are larger. Their maximum weight is 3.2 kg. The adult plumage is dark brown. The back of the head and undertail are lighter. The flight feathers are almost black. There are some individuals with ocher-yellow plumage. In young birds under the age of 3 years, the dark plumage of the wings is diluted with white spots, and the back of the head is dark. Limbs yellow color with black claws. The beak is black, the wax is yellow.

Nests are made in trees. Monogamous couples. The female lays from 1 to 3 eggs in the spring. Incubation period lasts 42 days. The eggs are incubated by the female and the male carries the food. The chicks begin to fly at the age of 2 months. At the beginning of October, birds begin migrating to warm countries. It is unknown how long the Greater Spotted Eagle lives in the wild. By this issue there is no data.

Behavior and nutrition

With the beginning of migration, females and males separate and become solitary birds. So, for example, females nesting in Poland fly away earlier than males towards the Bosphorus. Males fly only after 2 weeks to the south of Albania. At the same time, it should be noted that outside the breeding season, greater spotted eagles can unite in small flocks of up to 10 individuals. These birds are regularly tagged and tracked using a satellite transponder. The so-marked male nested in Western Siberia and flew to Yemen for the winter. That is, the range of movement of these birds is very wide.

Birds of prey are active during the daytime. They feed mainly on small mammals, frogs, waterfowl, and snakes. Mammals account for 55% of the diet. The number of these birds in 2005 was 4.5 thousand nesting pairs. This, naturally, is not enough for a huge habitat region. Russia is considered the birthplace of 3 thousand couples. There are no more than 900 pairs in Europe. The remaining great spotted eagles nest in Asian countries. The low population size is attributed to loss of natural habitat and poaching during the mating season. Currently, the International working group to protect these unique birds from complete extinction.

Aquila clanga Pallas, 1811

Order Falconiformes Family Accipitridae - Accipitridae

Short description. The eagle is medium in size, wingspan 155-180 cm, weight 1.6-3.2 kg. The plumage is very dark, with a lighter rump. Young birds have large white streaks on the wings and lower back, and a white stripe on the rump.

Habitats and biology. It nests in forests near large areas of wetlands (river floodplains, lakes, raised bogs). In spring on the river Irkut was observed on April 12, 1997. The clutch consists of two eggs, usually 1 chick is raised. Hatching occurs in the 20th of June, the young fly out of the nests in mid-August. The diet consists mainly of animals from semi-aquatic habitats - voles (housekeeper, water voles), muskrats, frogs, ducks and waders. If hunting areas include steppe grasslands, the long-tailed ground squirrel is an important prey item. On the southwestern coast of Baikal, autumn migration was usually observed from September 17 to 29, the earliest registration was September 2, the latest was October 4.

Spreading. Eurasia - from southern Finland, Poland, Romania and the former Yugoslavia east to Primorye and Northeast China. In the Irkutsk region it is found between the Sayans and the Trans-Siberian Railway, in bass. Upper Lena and (very rarely) in the forest-steppe. It is noted in the Ziminsky-Kuitunsky steppe area. Rare sightings are known in the Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve. On the western coast of Lake Baikal, if it nests, it is very rare. To the north it was recorded on the rivers of the North Baikal and Patom highlands, in the Chunsky and Nizhneilimsky regions. At the end of the 19th century it was considered a breeding bird of Southern Baikal, in the 1930s. was the most numerous species of eagles in the Balagan-Nukuta forest-steppe. Now, most likely, it does not nest in these two areas. Reliable finds of nests (3 in total) are known for the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo Plain and the left bank of the Irkutsk Reservoir.

Number. On the territory of the Ust-Orda Buryat District in the early 2000s. 2-5 pairs nested and 8-15 single individuals kept. The number in the Irkutsk region in 1996 was estimated at 40 pairs, in 2005 - 30. These figures refer to the territory from the foothills of the Sayan Mountains to the Upper Lena. Data from Yu.I. Melnikov make it possible to expand the range of the species in the Cis-Baikal region to the north. Accordingly, the total number may be 2-3 times higher. Its significant decrease occurred after the creation of the Angarsk cascade of reservoirs and the “upturning of virgin soil” in the 1950-60s, and it decreased in subsequent years.

Limiting factors. Anthropogenic conversion of wetlands poses a serious threat. Their most valuable areas were destroyed by the creation of the Angarsk reservoirs. The remaining waterlogged lands were later subjected to reclamation and development. Steppe meadows, which are a hunting biotope, were plowed up and built up. Dangerous for nests Forest fires. The disturbance factor has an impact: the species’ habitats are used for the construction of summer cottages, recreation, fishing, hay making and livestock grazing. It is not very careful and therefore vulnerable to poachers. Increased mortality is likely on wintering grounds in Southeast Asia.

Security measures taken and required. Included in the IUCN Red List, the Red Book of Birds of Asia, the Russian (except for Siberian populations) and regional (Irkutsk region, Republic of Buryatia) Red Books, CITES-I, RY, RI, RK. The cost standard used to “calculate the amount of harm caused to objects of the animal world” for Siberian populations of the Greater Spotted Eagle is 5 thousand rubles. (Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources Russian Federation dated April 28, 2008 No. 107). Inhabits the territory of the Pribaikalsky National Park and the Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve. It is necessary to include the populations of Siberia in the Red Book of the Russian Federation with an increase in the “cost standard”. Legislative bans on captivity and trade in taxidermy products are required. Wintering areas need to be clarified. Special protection of the species is needed both in Siberia and Southeast Asia.

Information sources: 1 - Krasnoshtanova, Fefelov, Malysheva, 2003; 2 - Melnikov, 1999a; 3 - Melnikov, 2008a; 4 - Ryabtsev, 1997a; 5 - Ryabtsev, 20036; b - Ryabtsev, Durnev, Fefelov, 2001; 7 - Skaloy, 1934; 8 - Sonin, Ryabtsev, 19936; 9 - Stepa-nyan, 2003; 10 - Ryabtsev, 2005; 11 -Taczanowski, 1893.

Compiled by: V.V. Ryabtsev.

Artist: D.V. Gumpylova.

Great Spotted Eagle

Aquila clanga Pallas, 1811

Population: populations of the European part of Russia and the Far East

Spreading: Inhabits forest and forest-steppe zones to the north. to approximately 64°N. in European Russia and the Urals, up to 62° N. in the Ob valley, 63° N. in the Yenisei valley, 54° N. in the Baikal region, 53° N. in Transbaikalia, 52° N. in the Amur Valley and Primorye up to 49° N. South the range boundary runs approximately at 50° N latitude. in the bass Don, 53° N in the Volga valley, in the Asian part - along the state border of Russia. Outside Russia, the range extends to the west. to Finland, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, to the east. to North-East China.

Habitat: It nests mainly in tall, but not too dense, often swampy, forests located near water bodies: in river valleys, lake basins and among swamps. A necessary requirement is the presence of open feeding biotopes near the nesting site: floodplain meadows, swampy clearings, wastelands, swamps. Monogamous, sexual maturity occurs at 3-4 years of age. Nesting sites take many years. The massive nest is located in a fork of the main trunk, often on deciduous trees. There are 2 eggs in the clutch, but one of the chicks almost always dies from the cannibalism of the second, so only one young bird flies. It feeds on a variety of vertebrates from hares to voles, the main diet being mouse-like rodents and amphibians. Winters in the southeast. Transcaucasia, Iran, Mesopotamia, India, Burma, and also in Egypt.

Number: The status of populations and population trends vary in different regions. In the forest-steppe of the European part of Russia it was under threat of complete extinction. Apparently, it has completely stopped nesting in the Kaluga, Tula and Voronezh regions. . In the Lipetsk region. There are 5-7 pairs left at the nesting site. In a number of regions of the forest-steppe Cis-Urals, the number remains quite high. In the forest areas of the center, north-west. and zap. In the European part of Russia, the number, compared to the first half of the century, has not decreased so significantly; now there is no sharp decline in the number; in some places it is stable. In the Tver region. About 30 pairs nest, in Moskovskaya - at least 10-15. 7-9 pairs have been nesting in the Oksky Nature Reserve for many years. In the Kaliningrad region. 10-14 pairs, the number increased slightly in the second half of the century. In the Leningrad region. no more than 18-20 pairs live. In the Upper Volga region the species is very rare and is in danger of complete extinction; a catastrophic decline in numbers has occurred over the past 30 years. In the Volga-Kama region in the first half of the 70s. the number decreased by 2.9 times and in the middle of this decade amounted to 1 individual/200 km of route. In the Perm region. There has been a strong decline in numbers and currently no more than 20 pairs are nesting. In the Asian part of the range, the number is very uneven. The spotted eagle has become extremely rare in the Middle Urals. In the 60s it was numerous in the Baraba Lowland - 3-24 pairs/100 km2 and on the Zeya-Bureya Plain in the Amur Region. - 1.3-2.7 pairs/100 km2. There are no modern data on the status of these populations. Survey data in other regions indicate the small number of the species. In Tyva, on an area of ​​1514 km2, only 3 nests were found. In the Malaya Sosva Nature Reserve (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), 1-3 pairs nested on an area of ​​922 km2. The species is not found at all in the region of the Bratsk Reservoir. and to the West. Altai. In general, the number of Greater Spotted Eagles in Russia does not exceed 3 thousand breeding pairs, of which 800-1000 live in the European part and, apparently, about 2 thousand in the Asian part. Among the anthropogenic factors, the nesting of the species is most negatively affected by the drainage and plowing of floodplain meadows, the cutting down of nesting trees and the drainage of swampy forest areas, and the increase in the disturbance factor (especially in the forest-steppe zone).

Security: Listed in the IUCN-96 Red List, Appendix 2 of CITES, Appendix 2 of the Bonn Convention, Appendix 2 of the Berne Convention, Annexes of bilateral agreements concluded by Russia with India and the DPRK on the protection of migratory birds. Individual nesting sites are protected in the Oksky, Mordovsky, Voronezh, Malaya Sosva, and Khingansky nature reserves; Meshchersky National Park, Zavidovo State Complex. The country's zoos contain only 2 individuals (Kaliningrad and Lipetsk), breeding has not been registered in recent years. Nests located in unprotected areas should be declared natural monuments with the establishment of a protective zone around the nest, with a complete ban on logging and reclamation work. It is advisable to build artificial nests and work on keeping one of the chicks in an aviary during the critical period of cannibalism, with subsequent return to the nest.