• BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

    Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Spanish Imperial Eagle - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 19:42, 15 November 2008 by AlexC (talk | contribs)


Stub.png This article is incomplete.
This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it.
Stub.png


Photo by Steve G

Alternative names: Adalbert's Eagle; Spanish Eagle

Aquila adalberti

Identification

Distribution

South-west Europe and north-west Africa. Very low population breeds in a limited area of central and south-west Spain. Range formerly much more extensive in Spain and also bred in Portugal but today the stronghold is the Extremadura region.

Although mainly resident, there is some dispersal and young birds have sometimes wandered across to Morocco. Formerly bred bred in Morocco and nesting recently confirmed there in 1995; apparently returned to Morocoo after an absence of more than 40 years. One pair nested on the cliffs of Punta cierras 31 km far east from Tangier city on the north of the country. Also a former breeder in Algeria. In the past occasional birds have reached the Balearics and recently recorded as a vagrant in southern France.

Habitat

Open, mainly lowland country, often grassland, with scattered trees. Wooded foothills and patches of woodland close to open country and often hunts over marshes.

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with the Imperial Eagle (A. heliaca).

The species is monotypic.

Behaviour

External Links

Top