The Imperial Eagle in the south-east of Kazakhstan 2022–2023: distribution, population numbers, threats

The Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) is one of the rare species of eagles breeding in Kazakhstan and inhabiting almost the entire territory of the country. The south and south-east of Kazakhstan is the southeastern border of the breeding range of the species (Karyakin, 2020). It is this part of the range that will be considered in this paper. The Imperial Eagle is classified as a Vulnerable species by the IUCN (BirdLife International, 2019), and in Kazakhstan it is listed in the Red Data Book as a Rare and Declining Species (Category III) (Pfeffer, 2010). The global population of imperial eagles as of 2016 was estimated at 2.5–9,900 adults (BirdLife International, 2019), but the current estimate of the global population is 8099–9981 breeding pairs, whereof Kazakhstan has 3420–4260 breeding pairs or 42.2–42.7% of the global population (Karyakin, 2020). In the beginning of the 21st century, the Imperial Eagle was not so rare on nesting in Western Betpak-Dala, with at least 20 pairs recorded here (Karyakin, Barabashin, 2006; Karyakin et al., 2008; Gubin, 2018). B.M. Gubin (2018), summarizing his data on Western Betpak-Dala, reports 60 known inhabited nests of Imperial Eagles, 39 of which were located on the poles of high-voltage power lines and 21 on saxaul; the birds nested most densely between Taikonur and the water station that supplies water to Stepnoi settlement. By 2018, a minimum of 18 breeding territories of the Imperial Eagle were recorded in the Chu Valley and the area from Shu to Taikonyr (Karyakin, Barabashin, 2006a; Karyakin et al., 2008; Gubin, 2018; Abdullin et al., 2020; Andreenkov et al., 2020). A large group of the species is still present in southern Kazakhstan. In the last two years, research has been conducted and the population size of the Imperial Eagle has been revised along the edge of the Moiynkum sands in forest belts, where eagles of this species have not been monitored before. A large breeding group of more than 100 pairs is concentrated in the Moiynkum sands, which forms the southeastern edge of the desert population of this species (Karyakin, 2020). During two research seasons (2022 and 2023), it was possible to collect characteristics of 49 nests of the Imperial Eagle. Most nests (85.71%) were found on the Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia), 6.12% on Turanga (Populus sp.), 4.08% on saxaul (Halóxylon sp.) and one nest each or 2.04% were recorded on Elaeagnus (Elaeagnus sp.) and electric poles (n=49). In 2022, clutch sizes ranged from