site.btaRecord-high Number of Imperial Eagles Hatch in Bulgaria This Year

A total of 48 birds of the endangered Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) hatched in Bulgaria this year, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) reported Monday. This is the highest number registered by BSPB in the last 25 years since the monitoring of the species began.

In spring, 40 pairs occupied nesting territories and 31 pairs began nesting. A record-high number of pairs - five - managed to rear three chicks each, when the usual number for the species is two chicks. This year's average nesting success of 1.55 chicks per incubating pair is close to what was registered in countries with richer food supply, which is a precondition for breeding. A total of 55 occupied nesting territories and 49 incubating pairs were registered in Turkiye's European part, the BSPB specified.

According to the NGO, the high nesting success rate is the result of long-standing conservation efforts in Bulgaria and Turkiye as well as favourable natural factors in 2024, such as good food supply and appropriate weather conditions.

The Thracian sub-population of the Imperial eagle includes all pairs nesting in Bulgaria and the European part of Turkiye. With a total of 95 known nesting territories occupied in the region, the species is slowly recovering, but deaths by electrocution an poison traps as well as the destruction of the species' main food habitats - grasslands - remain a main threat to the Imperial eagle's future.

The regular monitoring of nesting pairs in Bulgaria is part of the BSPB's conservation activities within the Green Belt of Southeast Bulgaria project, funded under the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme.