Stopover 187

 by M. McGrady, F. Al Lamki, B. Meyburg, A. Spalton

As mentioned in yesterday's post (click here), 187 has been in southern Russia for the last week or so.  Migrating birds, including the Steppe eagles we are tracking, sometimes "stopover" during their migration.  In other words, they halt active migration, and remain in an area for some period of time.  Mostly these stopovers are probably related to the availability of food.  So, an eagle might interrupt its migration in a place where food is plentiful.  There it will feed and build up reserves before continuing on its way.  

Below is a map of some recent locations of 187.  Although we do not know for sure that there is food at this place (Dobrozhelannyy, Stavropol Krai, Russia), it seems to have a number of buildings that appear to be chicken sheds.  This bird was caught in Oman feeding on chicken remains from a local farm in Salalah, and the large number of eagles seen in central Saudi Arabia last year (See: http://steppeeaglesoman.blogspot.com/2019/11/6700-eagles-found-in-central-saudi.html).  

Stopover location for a tagged Steppe eagle (187) at Dobrozhelannyy, Stavropol Krai, Russia during mid September 2020.  Red arrows indicate buildings that may be chicken sheds.  Waste from the production of chickens could be a reason for this eagle to stopover at this location. (© 2020 IAR)

Progress of migration - mixed

 by B. Meyburg, M. McGrady, A. Spalton, F. Al Lamki

The status of the Steppe eagles we are tracking is mixed. Some birds have moved south, but have not checked in for some days.  We think they might be in a GSM hole, and are unable to upload data.  Such is the case for 183 (See http://steppeeaglesoman.blogspot.com/2020/09/183-in-iran.html).  Indeed, some birds "disappeared" for weeks on the summering grounds when they settled into areas where there was no GSM coverage (See http://steppeeaglesoman.blogspot.com/2020/07/187-checks-in-after-110-days-of-silence.html).  We hope those birds will "call in" soon.

Others are still fairly far north, like 185 and 187.  Below is a map of these birds' movements since 1 September.  They are still located north of the Caucasus.  In contrast, a Steppe eagle tagged in Kuwait last winter is now making its way down the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast (See: https://kuwaiteagles.blogspot.com/2020/09/steppe-eagle-now-west-of-medina.html)

Movements of two Steppe eagles since 1 September 2020.

183 in Iran

 by A. Spalton, B. Meyburg, F. Al Lamki, M. McGrady

While most of the tagged Steppe eagles are still on their summering grounds, 183 has made a leap forward and is now in south-central Iran, about 400 km NNE of the head of the Gulf.

We'd also like to announce the lauch of a new blog about eagles in Kuwait.  You can access it here https://kuwaiteagles.blogspot.com/.  We'll be updating it often as we try to catch up with historical events, and the eagles being tracked are likely to start their migration soon.

Movements of Steppe eagle 183 during 1 August-10 September 2020.

Bon voyage

by B. Meyburg, F. Al Lamki, A. Spalton and M. McGrady

Bird migration has started, but not all birds have moved.  This is the situation across species.  For the Steppe eagles we have tracked, its also mixed, so far. Below is a map of locations from six tags since 1 August.  You can see that some are still on their home ranges (186), some seem to be wandering and have not pushed along their migration route (182), and others have started their migration (183,185,187).  184 was last heard heading east from its summer home range on 5 August.  Two of the birds appear to be heading around the north part of the Caspian, and has headed down the east coast of the Caspian.  None of the birds we have tracked have ever wintered outside of Arabia.  We'll see if that record holds.  

Migration can be a perilous time, and Steppe eagles have been lost to electrocution and poisoning on the way.  Hopefully, all the birds will arrive safely.

As the migration gets going, we'll post progress reports to the blog, so come back every so often or sign up to be notified when we post something.