Cooperation for the protection of the Golden Eagle

Im Rahmen von AQUILALP.NET wurden in den beteiligten Schutzgebieten in den Jahren 2003-2005 nach einheitlichen Methoden die Bestandsgrößen und der Bruterfolg des Steinadlers ermittelt sowie möglichst sämtliche Horste kartiert und im Detail dokumentiert. Nach der Brutperiode wurden außerdem in ausgewählten Revieren Beutereste aus beflogenen Horsten aufgesammelt, um stichprobenartig Einblick in die Nahrungsgewohnheiten der Adler zu bekommen.

It is the aim of AQUILALP.NET to collect baseline information about the population and distribution of Golden Eagles in 5 important protected areas of the Eastern Alps.

Population The results of the project AQUILALP.NET confirm that the Golden Eagle populations in the Alps have recovered very well. In the studied parks a total of 72 breeding-pairs could be confirmed. This equals about 10 % of the total population in Austria and Italy. Obviously Golden Eagles inhabit also areas outside the parks studied in this project, but information about that part of the population is generally very scarce. Yet we can assume that Golden Eagles today have reoccupied all suitable habitats in the Alps.

In the course of this project the breeding success of about 70 pairs of Golden Eagles is regularely monitored. The map shows all those territories marked with a dot (click on the map to enlarge) …

Breeding success Golden Eagles are long-lived birds of prey. Their yearly reproductive rate is relatively low and can show dramatic differences between the years. The main reason for this is that not every egle-pair starts a breeding attempt in every single year. In the course of the project AQUILALP.NET the breeding success of Golden Eagles in all participating parks was studied in much detail. Although the number of fledglings raised per pair varied between 0.13 und 0.79 the overall average (calculated across all years and all parks) was as high as 0.47. This means that in average every second pair successfully raised a chick. During the years of the project more than 100 young Golden Eagles left their nests. On of the main factors determining the breeding success of a Golden Eagle population is the proportion of pairs that start a breeding attempt in a given year. This proportion lay between 25 and 100 percent in the parks studied in this project – in average two thirds of the known breeding pairs started a breeding attempt in every year.

The number of fledglings raised per pair varied between 0.13 und 0.79 (click on the figure to enlarge) … The proportion of breeders varied between 25 and 100 percent (click on the figure to enlarge) …