Spanish Imperial Eagle
The Spanish or Iberian Imperial Eagle is a large eagle with a pale cream head and neck but dark brown feathers elsewhere. There is a distinctive white area on the shoulders and a pale grey area on the upper tail and the species can be recognised by its particularly flat gliding flight.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle breeds in central and south west Spain. It previously bred in Portugal, Algeria and Morocco but is now only found there as a vagrant.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle can be found in cork oak forests, plains and hills in south west Spain, the flood plains and dunes in the Guadalquivir marshes of southern Spain and on the high mountain slopes in the Sistema Central of central Spain.
In the 1960s, with just 30 pairs remaining, conservation efforts succeeded in increasing the population of the Spanish Imperial Eagle by a considerable amount. However, since 1994, the population has declined again to just 160 pairs. There are several causes of this decline: habitat fragmentation due to deforestation for agricultural land and timber has disturbed breeding grounds, intentional poisoning on hunting reserves to reduce natural predators of game species, lead shot poisoning as a result of ingestion of game killed with bullets and electrocution on power cables.
Approximately 80% of Spanish Imperial Eagles killed on power lines are female, causing a greater impact on this monogamous species than if equal numbers of males and females were killed.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle relies mainly on rabbits as prey and following drops in rabbit abundance due to shooting and disease, food supplies have been limited causing reduced breeding success.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle is legally protected in Spain and 62% of the breeding population occurs in 20 protected areas. A European action plan was published in 1996 and national and regional governments have worked to implement a coordinated conservation and reintroduction plan.
Date: 25th April 2012
Location: road to La Lancha and Embalse del Jándula, Sierra de Andújar, Andalucia, Spain
The Spanish Imperial Eagle breeds in central and south west Spain. It previously bred in Portugal, Algeria and Morocco but is now only found there as a vagrant.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle can be found in cork oak forests, plains and hills in south west Spain, the flood plains and dunes in the Guadalquivir marshes of southern Spain and on the high mountain slopes in the Sistema Central of central Spain.
In the 1960s, with just 30 pairs remaining, conservation efforts succeeded in increasing the population of the Spanish Imperial Eagle by a considerable amount. However, since 1994, the population has declined again to just 160 pairs. There are several causes of this decline: habitat fragmentation due to deforestation for agricultural land and timber has disturbed breeding grounds, intentional poisoning on hunting reserves to reduce natural predators of game species, lead shot poisoning as a result of ingestion of game killed with bullets and electrocution on power cables.
Approximately 80% of Spanish Imperial Eagles killed on power lines are female, causing a greater impact on this monogamous species than if equal numbers of males and females were killed.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle relies mainly on rabbits as prey and following drops in rabbit abundance due to shooting and disease, food supplies have been limited causing reduced breeding success.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle is legally protected in Spain and 62% of the breeding population occurs in 20 protected areas. A European action plan was published in 1996 and national and regional governments have worked to implement a coordinated conservation and reintroduction plan.
Date: 25th April 2012
Location: road to La Lancha and Embalse del Jándula, Sierra de Andújar, Andalucia, Spain
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Also in: South and west Spain - April and May 2012
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