A record low rate of mortality among breeding pairs of Imperial eagles in 2016

The team of the LIFE project "Land for Life" reported a record low rate of mortality of nesting Imperial eagles - only 3.77%, which is the lowest for the last 10 years. For comparison, the average rate for the past 17 years was 8.98% and the highest was in 2012 - 20.45%.

This year the number of the pairs of Imperial eagles in Bulgaria is 28 - as much as in 2015. The project team discovered two new pairs (one in Sakar and one in Derventski vazvishenia), but two other - in Sredna Gora mountain and in Balkan Mountains, were lost. The pair in Sredna gora mountain was the only one breeding in the region, but unfortunately this year we observed only one of the birds. 

26 young Imperial eagles out of 21 pairs that had started incubation in the spring have successfully left their nests. The average nesting success this year is 1.24 juveniles for a breeding pair which is higher than the last’s year (1.21) and than the one reported for European Turkey in 2016 (0.98%). Seven pairs didn’t incubate, although they occupied territories. The reason is that they are composed mainly of young birds with insufficient experience.
 

Studying the status of the Bulgarian population of the Imperial eagle is an important part of the LIFE project "Land for Life".
 

Photo: Svetoslav Spasov