Steppe Eagle in the Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan

Between June 22 and July 18, 2017, fieldworks were carried out to study the population structure and demographic characteristics of the Steppe Eagle breeding groups (Aquila nipalensis) in the central part of the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. In the course of the work 808 birds we found, 280 Steppe Eagle breeding territories were localized. Within 10 registration areas 277 Steppe Eagle breeding territories (96.18 % ) were examined, including 70 successful nests with 102 nestlings. The occupation of breeding territories was 87.73 %, while the percentage of active nests in the occupied breeding territories was 69.14 %. Successful were 42.26 % of nests from the number of active nests and 25.63 % from the number of identified breeding territories. The number of nestlings in broods ranged from 1 to 3, averaging (n=71) 1.45±0.56 nestlings per successful nest and (n=168) 0.61±0.80 nestlings per occupied nest. With a very high percentage of nests with unsuccessful breeding (54.46 % of the number of active ones), high percentage of nests with dead clutch was recorded – 34.55 % of the number of nests with unsuccessful breeding. Distribution density of Steppe Eagle active nests averaged 7.67/100 km2, varying in different areas from 4.11 to 12.90/100 km2. The distribution density of Steppe Eagle successful nests on the areas varied from 0 to 4.81/100 km2 averaged 3.24/100 km2. For the area of habitats suitable for breeding across the Karaganda region (142,549.9 km2), the abundance of the Steppe Eagle in nesting was 4,794–5,814, at average 5,275 pairs and 2,183–2,647, at average 2,402 successful pairs