Steppe eagle - a bird on the verge

A person from the king of nature turns into her killer. Technogenic and other activities deprive many animals of their natural habitat, calling into question the existence of certain species and completely destroying others. Steppe eagle - a bird that is under threat of extinction, a bird on the edge. While it can still be found in Russia, it is necessary to take a number of measures that will allow this bird to continue its existence. The number of steppe eagles on the territory of Russia is no more than 20 thousand pairs, and throughout Europe - about 25 thousand. In the Red Book, this species is assigned to the 3rd category - a rare species that can pass into the endangered due to the reduction of places and conditions of natural habitat. So what kind of bird is this eagle?

Steppe, or, as it is also called, desert, the eagle lives in the southeast of Europe, in Mongolia, India, Africa, northwest China, Arabia. In Russia - in the semi-desert and steppe regions of the Lower Volga region, the eastern Ciscaucasia, in the south of the Urals, in the foothills of the Altai and the steppes of Transbaikalia. The center of the range falls on the territory of Tuva and Mongolia. Vast nesting grounds are found in Africa.

It has long been discussed the isolation of the Eurasian and African forms of this bird into two separate species. Now the African steppe eagle is named Aquila rapax, and for the Eurasian eagle Aquila nipalensis.

Steppe eagle - a bird, very similar to the burial ground, at a distance they can hardly be distinguished. But in the steppe eagle the color is more even, light or dark brown. The weight of an adult bird can reach 5 kg, the wingspan up to 210 cm. The color is finally formed by the age of 5, young individuals can be distinguished by a brighter tone of feathering and longitudinal mottled spots (petrines) on the belly. The older the falcon, the less pestrin it has. Against the background of common feathers, bright yellow paws and the same bright yellow line of the mouth stand out.

Steppe eagle - a bird that avoids neighborhood with a person. It usually settles on the unraveled territories of the steppes or semi-deserts. An obligatory condition must be sufficient for the survival of the amount of food-gophers. This eagle is a stenophagus; It feeds on the same kind of food, but its shortage compels the steppe people to feed on snakes, young ungulates, foxes.

The agricultural activity of the man forces the steppe eagles to arrange nests on the poles of power lines, which is absolutely not peculiar to them in natural conditions - they usually arrange nests right on the ground, on small elevations or gentle slopes of small rocks. These very power lines often cause the death of young birds. Sockets are made of chips, sticks, grass, lined with tufts of wool, pieces of cloth or dung. Quite often, in addition to the main, they also arrange a spare nest. Eggs of steppe eagles lay in April, in the southern regions before. Masonry rarely exceeds 2 eggs. At the end of May - June, chicks appear who leave their native abode in the middle and end of August.

Nests of the steppe eagle are easily accessible for predators and poachers, this is one of the reasons for the reduction of the species. The main reason was the plowing of virgin lands, steppe zones, which served as a breeding ground for these birds.

Human whim is another threat to the steppe eagles. Recently, it has become fashionable to plant falcons, use them for falconry. Sometimes nests of eagles are ruined without any sense by the near people. In Syria, huge demand for stuffed birds, so they are caught with impunity and destroyed.

In order that the steppe eagle - a beautiful bird, and, unfortunately, rare, preserved and from the 3 category passed at least 4, which brought the recovering species of animals And birds, it is necessary to take a number of serious measures to preserve it. This species is already listed in Annex I of the CITES governing wildlife trade in Annex 2 of the Berne Convention, which protects the wildlife of Europe, as well as in Annex II of the Bonn Convention, which protects migratory species. But more concrete actions are needed not only on a global scale, but also in a regional one.

First of all, it is necessary to conduct explanatory work with people living in the nesting grounds and eagles. Most simply do not know that by destroying nests and killing birds, they violate the law on the protection of rare species. In addition, they do not even know anything about these birds. Secondly, it is necessary to equip poles of power lines with effective protective devices to prevent the death of steppe eagles from electric current. Since a person has invaded the territory of the eagles, he simply has to take care of them. Thirdly, it is necessary to formalize the status of the reserved non-plowed lands on which the steppe eagles nest.

The fate of these birds is entirely in the hands of the king of nature, and it is to be hoped that a person will make a royal gift to the steppe eagle - the opportunity to live.