Third International Scientific and Practical Conference “Eagles of the Palearctic: Study and Conservation”

Raptors Conservation. Suppl. 2. Proceedings of Conferences

SOME ASPECTS OF EAGLE NESTING IN THE STATE NATIONAL PARK “BUIRATAU”, KAZAKHSTAN

Sagaliev N.A. (Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center Community Trust; Republican state institution “State National Natural Park ‘Buiratau’”, Astana, Kazakhstan)

Contact:
Nurum Sagaliev sagaliyevnurum76@gmail.com
Recommended citation: Sagaliev N.A. Some Aspects of Eagle Nesting in the State National Natural Park “Buiratau”, Kazakhstan. – Raptors Conservation. 2023. S2: 157–159. DOI: 10.19074/1814-8654-2023-2-157-159 URL: http://rrrcn.ru/en/archives/34932

Republican state institution “State National Park “Buiratau” (hereinafter referred as SNNP “Buiratau”) was created on March 11, 2011, in Ereymentau district of the Akmola region and the Osakarovsky district of the Karaganda region.

Based on the analysis of literary sources and our observations, it can be assumed that about 227 bird species from 18 orders, including 19 species from the bids of prey (Minakov et al., 2019) can be encountered here.

Since the Park formation, we began to mark raptor nests on its territory. Since 2022, together with the Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center (BRCC), we have been monitoring nest occupancy for three eagle species known to us: Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis). Results are shown in Table 1. 31 eagle nests are known on the territory of Buiratau State National Park and its protective zone, of them 14 belonging to Eastern Imperial Eagle, 8 – to Golden Eagle, and 9 – to Steppe Eagle. For the period of 2022–2023, the number of identified inhabited nests (belonging to nesting pairs, used for nesting in a given year) changedslightly. For Eastern Imperial Eagle, it increased from 6 to 7, for Golden Eagle it increased from 1 to 3, for Steppe Eagle it remained the same, 3 breeding pairs.

Encounters were recorded during eagle nests monitoring, indicating unusual, in our opinion, timelines of nesting for Golden Eagle and Eastern Imperial Eagle.

For example, on May 26, 2023, we discovered a clutch of three Golden Eagle eggs in a nest on a cliff face on a 6 m high rock. The number of eggs in a clutch indicated that it was not a repeated one. Literary sources indicate that in Northern and Central Kazakhstan Golden Eagle starts laying eggs in the early April (Bragin, 1987). According to A.I. Marakshin, Golden Eagle nest with one egg was found near Zerenda on April 24 (Korelov, 1962). Thus, the Golden Eagle nest with a clutch located on May 26, 2023, can be considered late. It is unknown what could have caused the delay in the onset of reproduction of this Golden Eagle pair.

On June 1 of the same year, one month old nestlings were observed in another Golden Eagle nest built on a birch tree.

Table 1. Results of monitoring the nest occupancy for three eagle species in the Buiratau State National Park and its protective zone in 2022–2023.

Species Number of

known nests

 2022 г. 2023 г.
Number of inhabited nests Number of inhabited nests
obj. % obj. %
Aquila heliaca 14 6 42,9 7 50,0
Aquila chrysaetos 8 1 12,5 3 37,5
Aquila nipalensis 9 3 33,3 3 33,3
Total 31 10 32,3 13 41,9

 

Clutch (3 eggs) in the nest of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), 26/05/2023. Photo by N. Sagaliev.