SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE: POPULATION IN 2013

Photo Pedro Schreur y Godfried Schreur

Keeping our promise we can provide yet another year’s update on the population of the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) in the Iberian peninsular and in Extremadura. On this occasion the official data has been published much earlier than usual and has been covered extensively in the press.

Overall, it has been yet again another excellent season for the species, with a new record of 407 pairs in the peninsular (396 in Spain and 11 in Portugal), 27 more than the previous year, an increase of 7.5%.

Apart from in Extremadura, where there has been a small decrease of three pairs, and in Castilla y León, the population of Spanish Imperial Eagle has increased in all of the other autonomous communities of Spain, especially in Castilla-La Mancha and in Andalucia. Extremadura continues to be the region with the slowest increase of Spanish Imperial Eagle, from being second position in 1999 to the penultimate in 2013. In these 15 years of exhaustive monitoring, the population has multiplied three-fold across Spain, but only by 1.5 times in Extremadura. In comparison, in Castilla – La Mancha the population has risen by more than four times, and around 3.5 times in Castilla y León and Andalucia. Madrid for its part has doubled its figures, whilst in Portugal the population has grown from a single pair in 2003 to 11 pairs ten years later. Almost certainly, the different trends shown are closely related to the conservation status of rabbit populations.

SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE: POPULATION IN 2012

Another year has passed and we can give our annual update on the population of the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) in the Iberian Peninsula and in Extremadura. We are rather late this year because we have been waiting for the publication of the official data from each Autonomous Community for 2012. But since this has not yet happened, and seemingly will not happen in the near future, we are providing only the figures for Extremadura and for the Iberian Peninsula as a whole, without being able to disaggregate the information by regions as usual. Nevertheless, the situation is excellent, with 380 pairs in the peninsula (370 in Spain and 10 in Portugal), 55 more pairs than the previous year, that is a 17% increase. Between 2006 and 2012, the population has grown by no less than 168 pairs, i.e. by 75%. Although the detailed regional figures are not yet available, in the last year the population has grown in all of the autonomous communities, especially in Castille-La Mancha, followed by Andalucia and Castille y Léon. In Extremadura there are five new pairs, with the total now a historic maximum of 53 pairs. So for the first time the 50 pair threshold has been crossed and there has been a 10% increase, breaking the levelling out that was shown over the last few seasons. Although the information is not yet available regarding the distribution of these new pairs in Extremadura, possibly the biggest growth has been in the centre and southern part of the province of Badajoz, in areas where the rabbit population is enjoying an excellent conservation state.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Ángel Sánchez for his role in the Spanish Imperial Eagle census in Extremadura.

Translated by Martin Kelsey.

SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE. POPULATION IN 2011.

Here you have the very latest figures on the population of the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) in Spain and Extremadura, published by the Spanish Environment Ministry for 2011. The situation is very upbeat for yet another year, with 39 more pairs than the previous year. This represents a 14% increase in a single year. From 2006 to 2011 the population has grown by no fewer than 102 pairs, pride of place going to Castilla-La Mancha, which has almost doubled its figures in this period. Extremadura, on the other hand, is only treading water, with one pair more than the previous year. Numbers have been holding steady in Extremadura for the last six years so the situation cannot exactly be called bad, but it is now lagging behind the considerable increases being recorded elsewhere. Witness the fact that only one of the 102 new pairs recorded since 2006 is nesting in Extremadura.

See more Imperial Eagle posts.

SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE: 2010 POPULATION

An earlier post in this blog gave the 2009 population figures for the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti). This post updates the figures for 2010 (source: Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs). The specie's trend is still upwards, with 11 new Spanish pairs. In Extremadura it is holding steady, with one pair fewer.

SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE: FALSE ALARM

Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti). Adult perched next to its nest. Monfragüe, spring 2010. Photograph taken from 2.5 km away (Javier Prieta).

A previous blog entry expressed some alarm at the apparent fall of Extremadura's population of Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) from 49 to 41 pairs in two years. These fears were based on the figures sent up by the Regional Government of Extremadura to the national Environment Ministry. At the time, given the unofficial nature of the information we published this bad news with all due caveats. Happily, this apparent decline turns out not to be true, since Extremadura's actual Spanish Imperial Eagle population in 2009 was 47 pairs. This more up-to-date information comes from regional press reports of a visit by EU officials to assess the results of the EU "LIFE Programme" initiative to help conserve this raptor in Spain [read more here]. While waiting with bated breath for the official 2010 figures, which might be somewhat brighter, at least we know that the species has been holding pretty steady in the region in recent years, with a medium term increase since reliable counts have been made. We publish below new graphs of the Spanish Imperial Eagle to correct the ones previously shown in this blog.

SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE. DOWNWARD TREND IN EXTREMADURA?

We have just received the results of the Environment Ministry's 2009 Spanish Imperial Eagle census (Aquila adalberti). These figures have not yet been cross checked against official sources so they should probably be taken with a pinch of salt.

It is promising to see that the Spanish population of this threatened raptor, which is just about the worldwide population, put in a good showing again this year. The following graph shows this upward trend, with 12 new breeding pairs and a doubling of the figures from only 10 years ago (from 133 pairs in 1999 to 261 in 2009).

On the other hand we are saddened to see Extremadura bucking this bright trend, with a 16% downturn, 8 pairs fewer, in only two years. No other region has seen a reduction in any year of the last decade; Extremadura has now plunged from the region with most Imperial Eagles to last place.

It would now be enlightening if the authority responsible for the conservation of this species gave more information to bear out or rebut these figures. This is unlikely to happen, however, since little or no information is given on the monitoring of threatened species, despite the general interest. Little or nothing was said about the sudden increase from 40 to 49 pairs in two years and we have no idea how it came about. Now we know just as little about this decline or its causes. At least census figures are forthcoming for Monfragüe, showing that the population has held steady at 12 pairs in recent years.

The following table shows the complete breakdown by region from 1999 to 2009. The figures have been taken from the Environment Ministry (figures sometimes differ from one source to another so this one source was chosen for the sake of consistency). Figures are also available from other sources in other regions: Castilla y León (with a detailed map), Castilla-La Mancha (there is a magnificent book and an article about Toledo in Ardeola) and Andalucía (with excellent official information in internet on the monitoring of threatened species). Unfortunately there is nothing similar in Extremadura, despite the existence of a website for this purpose and the public funds pumped into the much vaunted "information society".