Archive for December, 2008


New text on Short-toed Eagle on Ugo Mellone’s website

Monday, December 29th, 2008 / No Comments
Ugo Mellone, nature photography

• Agostini N., Mellone U., 2008 – Does migration flyway of Short-toed Eagles (Circaetus gallicus) breeding in Central Italy reflect the colonization history? // Journal of Raptor Research, 42(2): 158-159. – Short-toed Eagle. file (En).

We extend our thanks to Ugo Mellone for pointing the article out. It can be found among other papers on the Publications section of his website.

Biotopes. Southern and Central Belarus

Friday, December 19th, 2008 / No Comments
Contributor: Valery Dombrovski.
Country: Belarus. Region: Southern and central parts.
Short-toed Eagle. Biotopes. Photo 1
Hayfields on dried up valley bogs are one of the main hunting biotopes for agricultural lands in Polesie and for some places in Central Belarus. In this case – in the West Berezina River floodplain. Usually there is high number of Natrix natrix and almost full absence of Vipera berus in such places. The forest is very multivarious: has areas of pine, alder, oak, spruce, aspen etc.; some of those areas are very boggy.
Short-toed Eagle density: c. 1.3 pairs/100 km2. Open the map.
Short-toed Eagle. Biotopes. Photo 2
Nothern part of the Olmany Swamps. This is a complex of raised, intermediate and valley bogs covering about 1000 km2 of area. Formerly one of the key places for Short-toed Eagle in Polesie, but their number had dramatically decreased after natural disasters of 2002-2003. There are upland pine-birch forests around the swamps and small pine islands are situated in the central part of them. But Short-toed Eagles prefer larger forestlands for the nesting. Vipera berus dominates among relatively big reptiles, Natrix natrix inhabits only the swamps’ outskirts, Coronella austriaca is few in number.
Short-toed Eagle density: c. 4 pairs/100 km2. Open the map.

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Christos G. Vlachos’ article of 1994

Thursday, December 18th, 2008 / No Comments

You can find an article of Christos G. Vlachos on the University of New Mexico. University Libraries website. The work was dedicated to Short-toed Eagle ecology in North-Eastern Greece /map/:

• CHRISTOS G. VLACHOS and NIKOLAOS K. PAPAGEORGIOU, 1994 – Diet, breeding success, and nest-site selection of the Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) in Northeastern Greece // Raptor Res. 28(1): 39-42. – Short-toed Eagle. file (En).

Viktor Belik’s articles on Short-toed Eagle

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 / No Comments

A few articles of Prof. Viktor Belik (Rostov State Pedagogical University) on distribution, number and ecology of Short-toed Eagles in several different regions (Ru):

• Белик В.П., 1994 – Распространение, численность и экология змееяда в степном Подонье [Distribution, number and ecology of Short-toed Eagle in steppe Podonie] // Кавказ. орнитол. вестник, вып.6.- Ставрополь. – С.26-29. /map/

• Афанасьев В.Т., Белик В.П., 1998 – Змееяд в Сумском Полесье [Short-toed Eagle in Sumy Polesie] // Птицы бассейна Сев. Донца, вып.4-5: Мат-лы 4 и 5 конф. “Изучение и охрана птиц басс. Сев. Донца”. – Харьков. – С.45-46. /map/

• Белик В.П., Ветров В.В., Бабич М.В., Трофименко В.В., 1999 – Змееяд в Волгоградской области [Short-toed Eagle in Volgograd Region] // 3 конф. по хищным птицам Вост. Европы и Сев. Азии: Мат-лы конф., ч.2.- Ставрополь. – С.20-23. /map/

The photos were taken during an expedition of Prof. Belik in summer of 2008 in Volgograd Region.