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Monitoring of 9 different pairs of Short-toed Eagles has been conducted during 10 years in Northern Ukraine (Kiev Region /map/, Mizhrichynskyi Park /map/ of Chernihiv Region, southern part of Sumy Polissya /map/). Some calculations and results of the monitoring are represented in tabular forms:

• K. PISMENNYI, 2013 – Some data on breeding of Short-toed Eagle in Northern Ukraine // short-toed-eagle.net – ; in the form of XLS file with formulas: (En).

Average breeding success amounts to 0.60 juvenile / territorial pair and is quite close to this index for France: 0.57. The last result is based on observations of 2835 (!) breeding cases which have been managed to make by French national Circaetus gallicus network for 11 years (Bernard Joubert, personal communication). Also some other conclusions can be made: old pines (Pinus sylvestris) are prefered by Short-toed Eagles for nesting in Northern Ukraine; the eagles more often change their nests than they successfully breed; nest height is highly variable; the eagles’ choice of a nest depends on their previous breeding success; after an unsuccessful season the nest is changed with high probability, after successful one the following choice of a nest is unpredictable.

During 10 years of observations in Central Northern Ukraine (Kiev Region /map/, Mizhrichynskyi Park /map/) a lot of photos of several the same Short-toed Eagles have been taken. Some of them can be viewed in the galleries (just an example). Since Short-toed Eaglers’ the biggest flight feathers are often seen from a great distance they are easily recognizable in photos. Especially it concerns 4th-10th primaries of both wings. Accumulation of data allowed to determine inter-moulting periods of certain feathers:

• K. PISMENNYI, 2013 – Short-toed Eagle. Replacement of the biggest 14 flight feathers // short-toed-eagle.net – (En).

First of all, the results might be of interest as additional information for recognizing individuals in the nature from year to year, together with individually typical plumage colouration and silhouettes in flight at certain angles in certain poses. Regular photographing of Short-toed Eagles at their breeding sites and foraging grounds allows to distinguish them with high probability without special marking, without stressing and often even without disturbing the birds at all.

This gallery contains some photos of Short-toed Eagle taken in Northern Ukraine this year. As usual, it is planned to be updated with new pictures if I manage to take something interesting. They may be not as of high quality as of interest for Short-toed Eagle watchers. That is why all of them are commented in detail. Single eagles are named individually with alphanumeric code, for example: “A11” means bird “A” of the gallery of 2011, but “A” without a number here means that the individual has not been marked yet in previous galleries.

Just like last year I would like to share some photos, which, though have not perfect quality, can tell something about different aspects of Short-toed Eagles’ life as here, in Northern Ukraine, so in general. Also like last year the photo gallery will be updated with new images during the season. Every update will be described in comments.

Konstantin Pismennyi
Shot in: Kiev Region /map/, Mizhrichynskyi Park /map/, Sumy Polissya /map/

These photos were taken by Miroslav Dravecký (Raptor Protection of Slovakia – RPS) during short summer expedition in Kiev /map/, Chernihiv /map/ and Zhitomir Regions in the north of Ukraine:

Photos of male Short-toed Eagles hunting in June for the females which are sitting on their nests:

Dark Short-toed Eagle female hunting from power line pylons for herself for the reason that the breeding has failed:

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