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)