Steppe eagle satellite tracking

The distribution of the Steppe eagle ranges over much of Central Eurasia to Altai Mountains to Tibet.

November 2009. A young Steppe eagle that had been injured in Abu Dhabi was fitted with a satellite transmitter after it had made a full recovery. The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) learned some useful information about the birds migration routes that will help it to conserve the eagle's wintering routes and breeding areas.

The injured Steppe eagle was brought to the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital by a member of the public. The bird completely recovered and was rehabilitated at the Hospital for several weeks. It was then returned to the wild in January in Al Ain, near the Zakher area, and tracked by EAD. The Steppe eagle is a relatively uncommon winter migrant to the UAE, compared to other countries in the region. They are more commonly found in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman.

During its continued winter migration, the bird covered nearly 4,000 km to reach southern Yemen, via Oman and Saudi Arabia. The bird wintered in Yemen, near the strait of Bab Al Mandeb, a well known wintering area for migrating eagles, until the end of February. During its spring migration, the bird then covered more than 7,000 km to reach Kazakhstan, where it spent the entire summer, east of Lake Tenghiz.

Cutting edge technology
"At EAD, we are always investing in cutting-edge technologies to understand our environment more. We are using satellite tracking to understand the movements and migration patterns of key bird species," said H.E Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of EAD.

"These satellite tracking programmes for birds have helped us identify important stopover sites and key areas that need to be conserved for several species," said Abdulnasser Al Shamsi, Director of the Biodiversity Management Sector-Terrestrial Environment at EAD.

"We now know more about the migration route of the birds wintering in the UAE. The spring migration and tracking of the bird during summer period has possibly indicated the potential breeding areas of the species wintering in the UAE and the rest of countries in the Arabian Gulf," added Dr. Salim Javed, Deputy Manager of Bird Conservation at EAD.