Greater spotted eagle  (Aquila clanga)

The threats faced by the greater spotted eagle are numerous and diverse. Their habitat is destroyed as a result of wetland drainage, afforestation, urbanisation and agricultural intensification as well as abandonment of traditional methods of floodplain management. In Belarus, Poland, Russia, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, greater spotted eagle populations have suffered as a result of shooting, and across much of the range, deliberate and accidental poisoning has also caused greater spotted eagle deaths (2).

There is some evidence of hybridisation between the greater spotted eagle and the lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina), but as yet it is not clear whether this is a natural phenomenon or a result of an increasing difficulty in finding a mate. Additionally, the greater spotted eagle is now thought to be competing for food with the introduced American mink (Mustela vison) where this mammal has colonised wetlands in Belarus (2).

The greater spotted eagle is legally protected in Belarus, Estonia, France, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Russia, and is the subject of a European action plan (published in 2000) and a Belarusian national action plan. An International Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagle Working Group has been formed, and its proposed actions include a survey of the range and population, long-term monitoring schemes, research into breeding habitat requirements and protection of breeding grounds, the maintenance of traditional wet meadows, and the prevention of illegal shooting. Belarus has been particularly dedicated to the recovery of the greater spotted eagle, researching the hybridisation with the lesser spotted eagle and looking at habitat requirements. Site protection measures have come into force at key Belarusian sites, and include the restriction of forestry activities at nest sites in the winter season (2).