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Among a lot of videos of Short-toed Eagles published on the Web during the last several years some short films deserve special attention. For example, this one was made by Claudio Borghini in collaboration with Assuntino Amici, Luigi Marozza and Massimiliano Proietti in 2013. The researchers used an automatic camera having wide-angle lens and placed in immediate proximity to an aerie of Short-toed Eagles. The nest had been found in the Regional Park of Castelli Romani /map/ for the first time ever. It is evident that the method of monitoring nests using automatic cameras is becoming increasingly popular.

The paper listed below is available on a website of Mediterranean Raptor Migration Network. To know the latest news of this non-profit community just follow the FB page of the organisation.

• Panuccio M., Lucia G., Agostini N., Ottonello D. & Bogliani G., 2014 – Motion capacity, geography and ecological features explain the present distribution of a migratory top predator // Ecological Research DOI: 10.1007/s11284-014-1226-2. – (En).

These articles were published in 2012-2013. They all are dedicated to studies of migration of Short-toed Eagles. Now the full texts can be found on a site of Mediterranean Raptor Migration Network, on the section of papers:

For the first time tracked 2^nd CY Short-toed Eagle has returned to Europe from Africa. This is Egidio which was fitted with a satellite transmitter in Regional Park Gallipoli Cognato /map/ in 2013. European observers have a good chance to see the bird in the nature. As Ugo Mellone said, it would be great to observe the behaviour of this young Short-toed Eagle in the field and his interactions with breeding pairs.

Thanks to Ugo for kindly informing us!

This photo has been taken by Corrado De Francesco in south-eastern Piedmont /map/ on April 12^th. The author observed three ST Eagles and one of them had something reminding a transmitter or other similar equipment on its back. If anybody knows what it could really be or who could be the owner of the device, please, inform us:
comment this post or email to info@short-toed-eagle.net.

One more season of Short-toed Eagles’ stay in Europe has begun recently. Observers watched the first scenes of their breeding activity. Please enjoy some pictures and photos:

Breeding and survey season 2014 started with a rainy day in Maremma, Central Italy /map/. In spite of the bad weather, the pair was doing its job and this is my 38^th year with the Short-toed Eagles.

Francesco Petretti (www.francescopetretti.it)

At the first blush the pictures by Francesco are simple and rough, but they are accurate and for an experienced observer all the depicted scenes are easy to imagine in reality.

Bernard Joubert observed the same Short-toed Eagles at their old nest in Haute-Loire /map/ since March 10^th. The pair occupied the nest also in 2009 and 2012 years. A special hide allows getting unique knowledge of the behaviour of the eagles and taking magnificent photos. According to a recent message from Bernard, the female has finally chosen another nest – one that was occupied in 2013.

My observations at breeding sites of ST Eagles in Kiev Region /map/ began on April 5^th. Like in Haute-Loire the same old pair at first seems to be going to occupy the same nest, for 4^th year in a row. Now we have to wait and see what will happen next.

Francesco Petretti reports the findings of a long term study of the feeding ecology of two populations of Short-toed Eagle in Western Central Italy /map/: Maremma Regional Park /map/ and Tolfa hills. In both areas snakes represented the bulk of the diet, but there were significant differences in the selection of prey species with a higher number of “not-conventional prey species”, e.g. mammals and toads, in Maremma Regional Park and a stronger predation on Hierophis (Zamenis) viridiflavus in Tolfa hills. The study is in progress and will be implemented in 2014.

• Francesco Petretti, 2012 – Ecologia alimentare del Biancone (Circaetus gallicus) in due aree di studio in Italia Centrale [Feeding ecology of Short-toed Eagle in two study areas in Central Italy] – (It) – presentation, 20 pages.

The presentation is published on the Stazione Romana Osservazione e Protezione Uccelli (SROPU) website. It contains tables, diagrams and beautiful photos of Short-toed Eagles and snakes.

Two young Short-toed Eagles, this time Egidio and Irene, have been fitted with satellite transmitters in Regional Park Gallipoli Cognato /map/ again. You can find the map showing the birds’ migration and also read a short history of the project since 2010 on the same webpage. Thanks to Ugo Mellone for informing us!