Circaetus gallicus information navigator

Please take a look at the map of the area. General botanical description and a photo can be viewed below:

La Retuerta is situated in the central part of the Ebro valley, east of Zaragoza, in northeastern Spain. The extreme climatic conditions of the area have produced a vegetation similar to that of the North-African steppes. This climate can be summarized as follows: large annual range of minimum and maximum temperatures, oscillating from -10 ^oC to more than +40 ^oC; frequent frost in spring; prevailing winds from the NW and the SE (cold and warm, respectively), both with great desiccating power; low annual rainfall (200-400 mm); water deficit over 300 mm.

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Heartful thanks to Javier Blasco-Zumeta for few fullsized illustrations to his information sheet! They are represented below:

The Bibliography section on Sunbird.it – website of Guido Premuda – is refreshed with one more article on migration of Short-toed Eagle:

• BAGHINO L. & PREMUDA G., 2007 – Nuovi dati sulla migrazione primaverile “a circuito” del biancone Circaetus gallicus in Italia [New data on the “circuitous” spring migration of the Short-toed Eagle in Italy] // Avocetta, 31: 70-72. – (It). Also:

• LUCIANO RUGGIERI, GUIDO PREMUDA, LUCA BAGHINO, LUCA GIRAUDO, 2006 – Esperienza di monitoraggio su vasta scala della migrazione autunnale del Biancone Circaetus gallicus in Italia e nel Mediterraneo centrale // Avocetta, 30: 76-80. – mentioned before, is available there.

Please take a look at the map of main survey area /map/. General description and photos can be viewed below:

Two neighboring breeding sites with eyries 2100 m apart (but more than an hour on foot) in the heart of the Allier gorges, one of the most scenic spots of the Massif Central with a great biodiversity an no measures of protection. The area is a border of the massif of La Margeride and the Velay’s hight plateaux, on the margeridian slope. Here, the valley is 400 m deep with slopes of 60%. Generaly, those birds avoid meeting but some hunting grounds are shared that can cause agonistic behavior.

Breeding site LM: Woods of firs and beeches with some pines. In a cool open concavity on the left slope of the Allier valley. The nest sits on a pine, 250 m from a path. 69% incline. On a granitic formation. Very little human activity.

Altitude: 890 m. Exposition: NE.

Breeding site SV: Because of the exposition, woods consist of oaks with some beeches and pines. Sometimes, gneissic outcrops cut through the forest. The nest is at the top of a pine, 75 m from a path. 55% incline. As the previous site, very few human activities (hunting in autumn and no regular forestry activities).

Altitude: 900 m. Exposition: ENE. Other interesting species: idem.

Nearest hunting ground: 100 ha of heath, growing after fires. No agricultural activities. Everywhere brooms, thick or sparse, with rocks in places, cliffs and bushes and few pines. The slopes are difficult of access for humans because of the vegetation, rocks and declivity, but very easy for snake eagles, with up-draughts (permitting hang-gliding and thermal soaring).

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Systema Naturae is a website developed by Vincenzo Rizzo Pinna. He studies birds of prey including Short-toed Eagles in the Maremma Regional Park /map/ and in other places. Let us show you a little gallery of unique video clips (see them below) dedicated to Short-toed Eagles in the Maremma park and also some photos.

In the first video you can see Francesco Petretti /map/. He is a prominent Italian ornithologist and researcher of Short-toed Eagle, he took part in the creation of the “L’Aquila dei serpenti” film. Also you can enjoy all videos uploaded by Vincenzo directly on YouTube.

Please take a look at the map of main survey area /map/. General description and photos can be viewed below:

The zone has principally horizontal landscape. Large mainly pine man-made forests with oaks, birches and other leafy trees. Many not big rivers and wetlands. Big pieces of water, such as the Dnieper River with the Kiev Reservoir and some of the Dnieper’s tributaries: the Desna and the Pripyat Rivers. Rivers floodplanes are traditionally used as pastures for cows mainly and as grasslands.
Species of the potential prey: Natrix natrix – the most numerous, apparently is staple food of Short-toed Eagle, also sporadical Vipera berus and extremely rare Coronella austriaca; some species of lizards: Anguis fragilis – common, Lacerta agilis – the most numerous.

Typical breeding territories: old thin dry parts of pine forests. Nests on pines, usually near the tops, sometimes in “witch’s broom”. There are a lot of cutover areas inside the forestlands. A range of known the nest situation heights: 13-33 m.

Typical hunting territories: large open areas situated close to various pieces of water, such as floodplanes of big and small rivers, grounds nearby marshes and drain channels – usual inhabitations of Grass Snake and lizards.

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Visit please Javier Blasco-Zumeta’s site to find some information on identification of birds in nature. This information sheet – (En) on two pages with demonstrative photos (moult and age-specific changes) – could be helpful in the field together with article of Guido Premuda and Andrea Corso about the plumage characters. Also we have the fullsized illustrations to view the plumage more particularly.