The Iberian imperial eagle is a majestic bird with a wingspan of around two metres.
When hunting it glides over the countryside and drops like a stone when it detects prey out in the open.
Fortunately, it is now possible to see this raptor in the skies in more areas of Spain after it nearly became extinct in the 1970s.
The first national census was carried out in 1974, discovering that just 39 breeding pairs remained.
The alarm bells were sounded and this unique bird – which is only found on the Iberian Peninsula – was listed in the Spanish catalogue of threatened species. The protection that this afforded helped a slow recovery.
Conservation programmes bore fruit and by 1988 the number of pairs had increased to 104, according to state news agency EFE.
Fast forward to the new millennium and the ministry for the ecological transition (MITECO) revealed in 2023 that the latest census found 841 pairs.
And the population has gone up by 53% since 2017, they noted, with 821 of them in Spain and 20 in Portugal.
“The conservation efforts have managed to take this species away from the risk of extinction,” they stated, reminding that the Iberian imperial eagle is the only raptor endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.
Where can they be found?
The region of Castilla-La Mancha has the largest number of breeding pairs; a total of 396, which is 47% of the Spanish population, says MITECO.
“There are large areas of this region which have favourable habitats for the Iberian imperial eagle,” notes MITECO.
They highlight the Tajo river valley, the Sierra Morena and Campo de Montiel area. Toledo is a ‘key province’ as it is home to 212 pairs.
“Andalucía has also seen a large increase in pairs, going from 70 in 2011 to 136 in 2022,” states MITECO.
The population is concentrated in the Sierras Subbéticas in Córdoba, and Granada province.
Castilla y León has 131 pairs and is ‘registering a clear upwards trend, principally in the north of the region’.
And Madrid region, has reached 80 breeding pairs, up from 30 in 2008.
In the far west, Extremadura has 75 pairs.
The Portuguese government reported that it has at least 17 pairs and possibly 20; they are principally in the province of Alentejo which borders Extremadura.
“The population of the Iberian imperial eagle has been increasing since work started to conserve and observe the bird, following the designation of protection for the species and its inclusion in the catalogue of threatened species in Spain,” says MITECO.
Funding provided by the European Union through a LIFE programme provided a boost for improving knowledge of the species and the threats that it faces, notes MITECO.
What dangers do they face?
A lot of work has been done to reduce the threats which the Iberian imperial eagle encounters.
Reports on unnatural deaths during the period 1989 to 2012 illustrate the problems presented by the electricity supply network.
MITECO figures show that 270 Iberian imperial eagles died from electrocution, which was 51.8% of the unnatural deaths, ‘despite the enormous efforts taken to correct dangerous power lines’.
The other big threat to the raptor is ingesting poison; 195 of the birds died due to this blight from 1992 to 2017.
MITECO points out that the poison was used illegally by landowners and farmers.
Imperial information
This eagle is a monogamous and sedentary raptor that builds nests in the treetops, says SEO Birdlife.
Pairs of Iberian imperial eagles defend their hunting grounds and breed during the months of January and April.
They lay a maximum of four eggs, although two or three are the norm, says SEO Birdlife.
Once hatched, the chicks remain in the nest for two months, but remain dependent on the parents for a few more weeks.
It is a very specialized bird in its feeding; its main prey are rabbits, although the raptor can also capture reptiles and other birds, says SEO Birdlife.
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