Circaetus gallicus information navigator

Henry de Lestanville describes in his paper staying of 2 Short-toed Eagles at Brassoir in summer 2016 and the current status of the species in Picardy /map/:

• Henry DE LESTANVILLE, 2018 – Stationnement de deux Circaètes Jean-le-blanc Circaetus gallicus à Brassoir en 2016 [Staying of two Short-toed Eagles at Brassoir in 2016] // Avocette, 42 (1) – Revue naturaliste de Picardie Nature: pp. 3-8. – (Fr).

An impressive number of ST Eagles migrating at Sarimazi, Southern Turkey /map/, in autumn 2018 is reported on the Egyptian Vulture New LIFE site: 10853. This raises a lot of questions about real strength of their streams from Eastern Europe. Many thanks to Gábor Papp for sharing!

Diet and breeding site characteristics of six different raptor species, including STE, in Central India are compared in the following article:

• Satish PANDE, Reuven YOSEF, Federico MORELLI, Rajkumar PAWAR and Ram MONE, 2018 – Diet and habitat affinities in six raptor species in India // Avian Research, 9:36. doi:10.1186/s40657-018-0129-2 – (En).

That is a region where Short-toed Snake Eagles have potential food competitors. Besides, data on their diet and habitats in the Indian part of the distribution area are of great interest in themselves.

The following paper by Ivan Budinski established principles of the local Short-toed Eagle population monitoring program in Croatia:

• Ivan BUDINSKI, 2014 – Nacionalni program za monitoring zmijara (Circaetus gallicus) [National monitoring program for Short-toed Eagle] // Udruga BIOM. Zagreb: 10 p. – (Hr).

The author is one of Croatian researchers involved in the project of GPS tracking of Paško, the local young Short-toed Eagle. The map of the bird’s migratory movements is available online and regularly updated.

Several records of Short-toed Snake Eagle at the boundaries of the species range were reported this summer. Local birders informed about observation of an eagle again in the United Kingdom, at Ashdown Forest /map/ in East Sussex: it was seen several times since June 21^st. Unfortunately, the age of that bird has remained unknown. Four years earlier, a young Short-toed Eagle had been observed at Morden Bog /map/, near Wareham.

At the opposite side of the range’s northern boundary, not far from Barnaul /map/, the administrative centre of the Altai Krai, a Short-toed Eagle was recorded this year too. Photos of it are available on the Birds of Siberia website. This time it was an adult bird, as well as the previous one observed in 2016. Also, this summer has brought many encounters with ST Eagles to birders in Kazakhstan, just enjoy the pictures.

Currently, 7 nests of Short-toed Eagles are controlled in 3 Regions of Northern Ukraine. All those pairs have chicks this year. It is of great interest to know the final result of the reproduction season in this area. The gallery will be updated after the end of the season, however, now we can see some pictures of the old acquaintances again.

After a 100-year break, Short-toed Eagle breeding in Lithuania has been reported (Lt) again! The last time their nest had been found by Prof. Tadas Ivanauskas in Varėna District in 1915. Now, Eugenijuis Drobelis discovered the nest in the same district near Čepkeliai marsh /map/ on July 23, 2018. This return might mean the species’ spreading to the NW there.

Although, this paper is rather old, it can be considered as a good example of a report on Short-toed Eagle rehabilitation. If all similar cases were described in such a detailed way, our knowledge on sexing and ageing of Short-toed Eagles would be much deeper:

• Theo van de MORTEL, 2006 – Voor het eerst een Slangenarend Circaetus gallicus geringd in Nederland [Male Short-toed Eagle found emaciated in The Netherlands in May 2006] // De Takkeling, 14 (3): pp. 232-235. – (Nl).

The article is available on the Natuurtijdschriften site now.