Conservation Status of Breeding Eagles in France

• Published in: Raptors Conservation
• Main Authors: Hugo Pontalier, Patrick Boudarel, Marie-Françoise Canevet, Edouard Lhomer, Dominique Michelat, Cécile Ponchon, Christian Riols, Olivier Scher
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: LLC Sibecocenter 2019
• Subjects: raptors; birds of prey; eagles; conservation; france; productivity; monitoring; threats; short-toed eagle; golden eagle; lesser spotted eagle; bonelli’s eagle; booted eagle; white-tailed eagle; osprey; General. Including nature conservation; geographical distribution; QH1-199.5; Zoology; QL1-991; Haliaeetus albicilla; White-tailed eagle; Aquila chrysaetos; Pandion haliaetus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.19074/1814-8654-2019-38-93-108; https://doaj.org/article/0b250c54188d4a22a54ea991238fbefc

Seven species of eagle breed in France: Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina), Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata), Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus), Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Populations of all species have increased since the beginning of the 2000s and breeding pairs are estimated at: 2500-3300 in 2012 (Short-toed Eagle), 585-810 in 2012 (Booted Eagle), 450-500 in 2012 (Golden Eagle), 80-90 in 2015 (Osprey),33 in 2016 (Bonelli’s Eagle) and 1 each in 2018 (Lesser spotted Eagle and White-tailed Eagle). These two latter species became new breeding species in 2003 and 2011 respectively. Productivity, expressed as fledgling/pair/year, is estimated to be on average 0.57 (Short-toed Eagle), 1.56 (Osprey), 1.18 (Bonelli’s Eagle), 0.82 (Lesser spotted Eagle), 1.1 (White-tailed Eagle) and from 0.26 (min) to 0.70 (max) (Golden Eagle). The main threats to reproduction relate to decreases in habitat quality (resulting from disturbance, habitat loss and wind farms) and the increase of mortality (from power lines, poaching and poisoning).