Status of the eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) in the Czech Republic – 2013 update, ringing results and new findings

Although unconfirmed reports on the breeding of the eastern imperial eagle exist from as early as in 1 920s, the first confirmed breeding only took place in 1 998. Since then, 1-5 pairs have bred annually, chiefly in the South Moravia region (the Breclav, Znojmo and the Brno-venkov districts). Out of 37 breeding attempts, 26 (i.e. 70%) were successful, with 48 young reared. The paper summarizes some characteristics of the breeding biology (productivity, breeding losses, nesting tree species, nest height, nest turnover, minimum convex polygon of the nests [nesting trees] built by individual pairs) as well as ringing recoveries. Out of 42 ringed chicks, 39 fledged successfully and produced 3 recoveries (Slovakia - 2, Austria - 1 ). Three foreign ringed birds were also sighted in the Czech Republic. The most interesting case is the breeding of a 1 9-year-old female born in eastern Slovakia (distance 336 km), found via a photo of the ring (V. Gahura, 201 3).