Races:
Aquila heliaca heliaca Savigny, 1809

Synonyms

Aquila heliaca ricketti Swann, 1931

Description

Rare breeding migrant. Inhabits tree patches in steppe, riparian forests, sandy deserts with scattered trees and foothills of mountain ranges. Appears in southern areas in March and rarely until end April; arrives April in northern ones. Both parents build nest in trees (pine, spruce, birch, poplar, Russian olive, saxaul, tamarisk) at 1-15 m above ground, and very rarely on ground, from dry twigs lined with old grass, rags, hair, horse droppings and green twigs often for 10 days. Nests used some years, birds repair them annually. Clutches of 1-3, usually 2 eggs early April – end May. Both parents incubate from first egg for 43 days. Juveniles hatch mid-May – June, male hunts and female feeds them; fledging at 65-77 days July – August. Adult with juvenile recorded 27 September in Altai. Autumn migration begins mid-September; at Chokpak Pass most birds observed in October. Elsewhere in Kazakhstan, latest birds recorded late November.

Distribution

Nests widely on plains and foothills north up to Urda, Naurzum, Kyzyltau Mts., Semipalatinsk, Kalbinskiy Altai and foothills of Southern Altai, where one brood recorded in 1998. Widespread on dispersal and migration, including Markakol’ lake and Kurgaldzhin Reserve. Sometimes observed in winter on Kalbinskiy and Western Altai, and in Chu valley, also at Barsa-Kelmes in winter 1971/72.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005
Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.