Circaetus gallicus information navigator

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 papers are describing the distribution of Short-toed Eagle in central and north-eastern regions of Italy, and the related issues:

Within the framework of the Turjánvidék LIFE project, which aims the preservation of habitats of such species as the endangered Hungarian Meadow Viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis), two Ecotone GPS-GSM trackers were bought in 2016. The main aim was to follow the life of a Short-toed Eagle pair residing close to and hunting regularly on viper habitats. Since the capture of the adult male failed in 2017, experts marked the offspring of this pair with the transmitter /map/. The chick was named Örs, an ancient Hungarian name meaning «human», «man» or «hero» but also a name of a Hungarian tribe from ancient times.

Örs left the natal area on October 1^st and its tracks can be followed on SATELLITETRACKING.EU.

The other transmitter was deployed on a repatriated individual in 2016, which died two months later in Poland. Its tracks are not available on the aforementioned website yet, however, another post will appear here if so.

Gábor Papp

The presented fact file is quite outstanding because it is mainly based on information collected in India, a region with the great sedentary Short-toed Eagle population. Despite the fact that the species biology in the region is definitely of great interest, too few data on it is currently available. Consequently, this information sheet contains details which could be fairly surprising for European researchers. Secondly, this is simply a good example of an informative poster. The file can be found on the Ela Foundation website.

A lot of information about observations and data on the current state of Short-toed Eagle population in the Isère Department /map/ are available on the LPO Mission rapaces and Faune Isère sites. Foremost, the following article by Françoise Chevalier deserves a particular attention:

• Françoise CHEVALIER, 2014 – Quatorze ans de recherche et de suivi des couples de circaète Jean-le-Blanc Circaetus gallicus dans le sud-est du département de l’Isère [Fourteen years of research and monitoring of Short-toed Eagle in the southeast of the Isère Department] // Le Bièvre, tome 26: pp. 26-33. – (Fr).

Also, please refer to the latest annual review:

• Françoise CHEVALIER, 2015 – Circaète Jean-le-Blanc Circaetus gallicus. Etude et suivis en Isère (38). Bilan 2015 [Short-toed Eagle. Research and monitoring in Isère. Summary for 2015] : 4 p. – (Fr).

More historical data about Short-toed Eagles in Switzerland can be found on a webpage of the journal Ornithologische Beobachter:

• Karl Daut, 1910 – Seltenere Vertreter der schweizerischen Avifauna. Der Schlangenadler – Circaetus gallicus (Gm.) [A rare representative of the Swiss avifauna. Short-toed Eagle] // Der Ornithologische Beobachter, VIII (1): pp. 1-3. – (De).

The former and present state of the species in the Canton of Valais /map/ is described in the communication, published this year:

• Lionel Maumary, 2015 – Nouvelle nidification du Circaète Jean-le-Blanc en Valais [New nesting of Short-toed Eagle in Valais] // Oiseaux.ch (Fr).

The following web resource deserves to be mentioned again: the map of the sighting locations is available for the registered contributors of Ornitho.ch only. However, any visitor of the site can view the photo gallery. The most of the pictures of Short-toed Eagles represented there have been taken in Switzerland.

The following new paper describes the relation of Short-toed Eagle population to the availability of natural habitats which are being used by them as breeding sites in the Judea region of Israel /map/:

• Ezra Hadad, Gilad Weil and Motti Charter, 2015 – The importance of natural habitats as Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) breeding sites // Avian Biology Research, 8 (3): pp. 160–166. – (En).

Thanks a lot to Dr. Motti Charter for sharing the file!