Both eagles in central Saudi

By Bernd Meyburg and Mike McGrady

The two Steppe eagles we have now been tracking for almost 2 years are back in Arabia, and both are currently located in central Saudi Arabia, NW of Riyadh.  See below.

Current location of two Steppe eagles first trapped in Oman in January 2017

162312 (the transmitter ID number) is back at the same location it used during winter 2017-18.  If you click on the image below to enlarge it, you can see the rubbish dump where this bird is spending most of its time.  You can look back at blogs from last winter.  For example: https://steppeeaglesoman.blogspot.com/2018/02/ 

Rubbish dump at which Steppe eagle 162312 is spending much of its time.

18 October 2018

105 had spent a month around Soltanabad, Iran, then on 16 October it continued on its migration south.  It moved into Iraq, and is currently near the town of Diwaniyah, about 50 km east of Najaf. It is not unusual for birds to stopover at sites along migration, especially if there is food.  We don't know much about the situation around Soltanabad, but would love to hear from anyone who has information.

Movements of Steppe eagle 105 during 16 September to 18 October 2018.

Late September - early October 2018

By Bernd Meyburg and Mike McGrady

It's mid-October and reports from Oman are that many Steppe eagles have already arrived.  Here is what our two tagged birds are doing...

162312 has migrated back to the exact location where it spent the winter of 2017-18, in central Saudi Arabia, about 180 km NW of Riyadh (Map below).  It arrived there on 28 September.  In 2017, it arrived in early November.  Have a look: https://egyptianvultureoman.blogspot.com/2017/11/  It is not uncommon for birds to show fidelity to their wintering areas, though we have few data about this from Steppe eagle.

105 started migration on the 3rd of September, though we did not know about it until some days later when it came into GSM range.  By 16 September it had made it to Soltanabad, near Ilam, Iran, where it has remained.  At Soltanabad it has been able to download the many GPS locations it logged during the summer, when it had been mostly out of GSM range.  Alireza Hashemi of the Tarlan Ornithological Society in Iran reports that there has been an outbreak of anthrax in that area that has killed many cattle, and so perhaps the eagle will stopover for some time more.  However, we predict that it will eventually move farther south (map below).

162312's locations since 28 September 2018 (dark blue) and locations from end of February 2018 (light blue).

Locations of Steppe eagle 105 at Soltanabad, Iran during 16 September - 11 October 2018.