Steppe Eagle in the East Kazakhstan Region

Fieldwork aimed at studying the population structure and demographic indices of the breeding groups of Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) in the southwestern part of the East Kazakhstan region was conducted from June 24 to July 20, 2020. In total, we recorded 79 adult Steppe Eagles. Within 4 sampled plots, 44 breeding territories of Steppe Eagles were visited, including 11 successful nests with a total of 11 nestlings found. The occupation of breeding territories was 95.45%, and the share of active nests from the number of occupied territories was 69.05%. The share of successful nests makes 25% and of unsuccessful – 31.82% from the total number of breeding territories. All broods found have only 1 nestling, making on average (n=29) 0.38±0.49 nestlings per active nest. In all sampled plots we observe a high proportion of nests with failed breeding (48.28% of active nests). The distribution density of Steppe Eagle breeding territories was 1.16–2.81/100 km2, on average 1.88/100 km2. The density of successful nests was 0.38–0.53/100 km2, on average 0.47/100 km2. The overall Steppe Eagle population inhabited suitable breeding habitats of the East Kazakhstan region was estimated in the range from 1110 to 2368 breeding pairs, on average 1617 pairs.