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The steppe eagle is a rather rare variety of birds of prey belonging to the hawk family. Currently, they are included in the Red Book, being a bird on the verge of extinction. By the way, about thirty years ago, steppe eagles populated large areas in the north of Eurasia, being a numerous species.
Once the stone eagles that inhabited the territories of India and Africa were mistakenly called the steppe eagles because of the external similarity. Only thanks to DNA analysis, it was possible to subdivide these two species into separate, but, unfortunately, inscribed in the Red Book.
The appearance of the steppe eagle
The bird is a large predator: the body length of the male is on average 73 cm, the females are about 80 cm.The weight of the male can reach 4.5 kg, and the females are usually more massive, their weight is often equal to 5.4 kg. In addition to body size, there are no other differences between the sexes, so it’s possible to distinguish a male from a female only in a bird pair, which nests and hatches the offspring.
The wings of these birds are elongated and quite wide, the length of the wings of the male reaches 62 cm, and of the female 65 cm. Those people who could observe the steppe eagle during the flight were certainly impressed by the majesty of this “king” of heaven. The total wingspan of the bird is about 220 cm. The wingspan is greater only in the golden eagle. The steppe eagle proudly and majestically soars in a straight plane, its wings are located on a parallel line to the ground. Sometimes the tips of the wings drop down.
The tail of the bird is slightly round, short. The limbs are completely covered with plumage, to the fingers, and this can be seen in the photographs of the eagle. The bird's fingers have a yellowish tinge, claws are tenacious, strong, black. The beak of the bird is massive, specifically curved, grayish in color, quite strong in appearance. Voskovitsa is rich yellow, along the edge of the mouth there is a yellowish border. The eyes of the predator are large, the color is brown-nut.
In the first year after the birth of these birds, they have a brown-ocher plumage, in which brown-yellowish streaks are visible. The tail plumage on the tail is painted in a dark brown border with yellowness.
Reaching the age of four years, this bird acquires a different, more monotonous brown-dark color. In a number of birds, a small reddish speck can be seen on the back of the head. The tail unit is covered with gray strips located across the tail.
Habitat. Lifestyle
For wintering, eagles go to India, Africa and the Arabian post. Most often, the representatives of the steppe travel alone, in rarer cases they form small groups - no more than 3 individuals. The stops necessary for rest, these birds also make without unnecessary congestion, in feeding places you can usually see no more than five birds.
In order to exist normally, the steppe eagle needs free spaces, open terrain. Often it can be desert areas, steppes, plains that are not touched by man, dry landscapes, strewn with hills, where there are rocks.
Along with other representatives of hawks, the steppe eagle prefers a daily way of life - it is easier for him to observe the surroundings, trying to find prey.
Diet and features of hunting
The main diet of a predator consists of small or medium rodents, most of them gophers, in some cases hares. Often, the steppe eagle manages to get small chicks, eggs or young birds; the predator will not disdain small reptiles either.
The steppe eagle does not mind eating carrion, especially if there is a sharp drop in the number of hares or ground squirrels. Often you could see how near the carcass of a fallen animal, without internal conflicts, up to 10 predators feed at the same time.
The steppe eagle uses for hunting the same methods that are inherent in other hawks. With excellent vision with a wide viewing angle, the bird can search for small animals from a great height. When the predator noticed the prey, it crashes down with a stone, with strong fingers adorned with sharp claws in front.
In addition, the steppe eagle can hunt from ambush, and this gives its results in those situations when the bird manages to immediately find a large colony of ground squirrels. In this case, the eagle shows tremendous patience, waiting for a small stone or a hill. When the prey emerges from its mink, the eagle overtakes it with lightning speed. By the way, these birds can run quite quickly.
Each representative of feathered predators, which have a fairly narrow diet, the periods of reproduction and feeding are inextricably linked. For example, the hatching and breeding of chicks in the polar owl is associated with the numerous lemmings in these parts. In the same way, the steppe eagles stop their breeding, if it turns out that the gophers are not enough to breed chicks. In such periods, these birds cease to nest, and begin to lead a nomadic lifestyle, which is aimed only at finding food.
Breeding periods
Like other birds from the hawk family, a rather strong pair is formed in the steppe eagles, in which the responsibilities between the male and the female are clearly and strictly distributed. The male is ordered to protect the family and get food, and the female takes care of the offspring, hatching the chicks and warming.
As soon as the snow melts, these birds return to their own nesting place. By that time, rodents are already beginning to get out of hibernation. Predators return to the southern nests in approximately the second half of March, with regards to the north, where the steppe eagles begin to appear closer to early April.
The total nesting area is determined by how well developed the feeding base is in a particular area. If the number of ground squirrels is high, then the nesting grounds can be literally one kilometer apart.
Nesting Features
Steppe eagles are not particularly pretentious and picky when choosing a site for the construction of nests. The main condition is the ability to freely fly up to him from above. They can be content with ledges of rocks, thickets of small shrubs, as well as trees that stand separately. In addition, for the construction of the nest, power transmission towers, stacks of dry grass, ruins of buildings, and heaps of metal can be selected. Sometimes predators build a nest right on the surface of the earth, where there are small elevations or mounds of sand.
The dimensions of the nest and its shape will be completely determined by the genus of the selected area. If this is the surface of the earth, then the nest will be an ordinary structure of plants and randomly scattered branches. If the nesting site is built at a height, then it will be built more thoroughly. Its diameter can be up to one meter.In addition to grass bunches and tree branches, all kinds of other materials can be used: fragments of animal skins, manure, scraps of paper and cardboard, bones and even metal wire.
The nests are usually quite strong, so they can be used annually. Upon arrival, the steppe eagle usually updates the structure. And it was at this moment that quite complex traditional rituals related to courtship games were being performed: joint long flights, entertainment and games in the air. All this precedes the mating of birds.
Breeding
The female bird usually lays up to two white eggs, which are covered with chaotic spots and brownish specks. Hatching offspring begins already from the moment the first egg appears, and takes about a month and a half.
First, the chick is hatched from the egg that appeared first, and the last chick from the brood, which is of different ages, very often dies from a lack of food. The body of the eagles, which have just been born, is strewn with a white fluff, then the plumage acquires a slightly grayish tint. The male steppe eagle delivers to the nest with the female and offspring of ground squirrels, and the eagle warms the chicks at night. If heat and heat sets in during the day, then the parents open their wings wide to protect them with the shadow of the brood.
Then the chicks are nesting for two months, and by the age of 80 days they become fully independent. At this point, they are ready to calmly make long flights. Under natural conditions, the life expectancy of a predator is much shorter than in an aviary - up to 48 years.
The current state of these birds
A serious and catastrophic decrease in the population of steppe eagles is associated with human activity: the decrease in numbers was due to the total development of virgin lands, the extermination of small animals and rodents that make up the diet of birds, poisons, the abundance of power lines and wires, the use of metal poles as power lines.
As measures to protect the population, which were adopted by international organizations, it is necessary to indicate serious fines for damage to predator clutches and hunting for them, a strict taboo for the killing of ground squirrels, as well as the use of special devices to protect birds on the poles of a metal power transmission line.
If people do not comply with rather banal requirements, then this may result in the complete disappearance of a magnificent representative of birds.
Video: steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis)
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