168 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS VOL. 38, NO. 2 1986. Is long-distancemigration possiblefor soaring ferences in the stopoverof fall landbird migrants on hawksusing only storedfat? Auk 103:607-611. the coast of Alabama. Auk 114:695-707. SPAA•,R. 1997. Flight strategiesof migratingraptors: a YOSEF,R. 1996. Raptors feeding on migration at Eilat, comparative study of interspecific variation in flight Israel: opportunisticbehavior or migratory strategy?J. characteristics. Ibis 139:523-535. RaptorRes. 30:242-245. SPSS, INC. 1997. SYSTAT© 7.0: Statistics. SPSS, Inc., Chi- cago, IL U.S.A. WOODREY,M.S. ANDER. MOORE.1997. Age-relateddif- Received21 June 2003; accepted28 December 2003 j. RaptorRes. 38(2):168-174 ¸ 2004 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc. SPANISHRINGING AND RECOVERYRECORDS OF BOOTED EAGLE (HIERAAETUSPENNATUS) IGNACIO S. GARCIA D•OS • Institutode Investigacidnen RecursosCineggticos (C.S.I.C.-U. C.L.M.), Rondade Toledos/n, 13005 CiudadReal, Spain KEYWORDS:Booted Eagle; Hieraaetus pennatus; mortality; and Bildstein 2000). However,little is known for this spe- longevity;philopatty. cies about the routes used during migration to Africa, wintering areas,use of stop-oversites during migration, Scientific ringing is a useful method to studymany as- habitat use in wintering areas,threats outside the breed- pectsof the life history of birds, and is especiallyimpor- ing season,where first-yrbirds spend their secondsum- tant for the study of migration. Information about mi- mer, and philoparry. This paper presentsa first analysis gratory routes and wintering areasof raptorsis necessary of ringing and recoveryrecords of this speciesin Spain for understanding the factors affecting the conservation for mortality rates, migratory routes, dispersal move- of these speciesoutside the breeding areas,such as hab- ments, and longevityin the Booted Eagles. itat loss, environmental contamination, or human inter- ference (Zalles and Bildstein 2000). This is particularly METHODS relevant for raptor speciesthat perform long migratory Ringing data presented in this paper were obtained journeys, which may be especiallyvulnerable to human from the Ringing Office of the Spanish General Direc- •mpacts.Furthermore, the concentrationof a large num- tion of Nature Conservation.These include only recov- ber of individualsduring migration increasesthe poten- eries of Booted Eaglesringed in Spain. From 1973-99, 2080 Booted Eagles were marked with metal rings in tial for natural and antropogenicimpacts such as shoot- Spain (Hernfindez-Carrasquillaand G6mez-Manzanaque •ng and trapping (Zalles and Bildstein 2000). 2000), of which 80 have been recovered (as of 2001). For The Booted Eagle (Hieraaetuspennatus) breeds in this analysis,the recoveryrecords have been divided into southern Europe and winters in Africa (Cramp and Sim- four periods: (1) breeding, 15 March-14 September;(2) mons 1980). In winter, Booted Eagles breeding in Eu- post-nuptialmigration, 15 September-14 November (15 rope may move southward into the area where Booted d before of the peak passagethrough the Gibraltar Strait Eaglesnest in southernAfrica (Brooke et al. 1980, Peplet until the beginning of the wintering period; Bernis et al. 2001, D. Peplet and R. Martin unpubl. data). There 1973); (3) winter, 15 November-14 February (Bernis are some data on the numbersof Booted Eaglescrossing 1980); and (4) pre-nuptial migration, 15 February-14 the Gibraltar Strait (Bernis 1973, Garz6n 1977, Cramp March (only one case that has not been included in the analyses). Eagles were classifiedinto one of three age and Simmons 1980, Finlayson1992, Zalles and Bildstein classes:juveniles (<1 yr), immature (2-3 yr), and adults 2000), the MessinaStrait (Thiollay 1989, Zalles and Bild- (>3 yr; Newton 1979, Cramp and Simmons1980). ste•n2000), the westernPyrenees (Iribarren 1973, Zalles and Bildstein 2000), the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (Welch RESULTS AND DISCUSSION and Welch 1989, Zalles and Bildstein 2000), and other Causesof Recovery.From 80 Booted Eaglesringed in localities during post-nuptialmigration to Africa (Zalles Spain and subsequentlyrecovered, 58.8% were found dead, 18.8% were found alive and immediatelyreleased, Present address:Plazuela del Padre Felipe Fernfindez and 13.8% were found alive but were not released due nø 1-2 ø, 05416, EL ARENAL/rvila, Spain; e-mail address: to their poor physicalcondition. No detailed information [email protected] could be obtained for the remaining 8.8% of ringed ca- JUNE2004 SHORTCOMMUNiCATiONS 169 ,Jr Ringingand recoveryin Mao (Menorca);distance = 0 km (N= 1). ß Ringingand recovery in Almonte (Huelva); distance =2 km(N= 1), 6 km (N = 3) and 30 km (N = 1). ß Ringingand recovery in Do•anaNational Park (Huelva); distance= 0 km (N= 6) and 27 km (N= 1). Morocco Faso Algeria& Ringingandrecovery inMadrid; distance =7 km (N= 1), (N=2) Morocco 11km (N= 1) and 19 km (N= 1), Figure l. Ringing and recoverylocalities during breeding period (15 March-14 September) of Booted Eagles marked in Spain. Recoveriesof birds that were ringed during the samebreeding seasonwere excluded. gles.The percentageof birds found dead wasgreater for juvenilesand iramatures(combined; 72%, N = 50) than for adults (36.7%, N = 30). This difference was statisti- 25 cally significant(Yate's corrected X '• = 8.26, P = 0.01). year11-3 years•l> 3 yearsI This is consistent with the pattern that young raptors tend to have higher mortality rates than adults (Newton 20 1979). Causesof mortalitywere: shooting(21.3%), drowning (14.9%), collision with electric powerlinesor electrocu- ,o tion (8.5%), trapping (6.4%), general trauma (6.4%), H 10 poison (4.3%), predation by other raptors (2.1%), pre- dation by other wild animals (2.1%), collisionwith cars •2 (2.1%), and unknown (31.9%). 2-- 2 Causesof mortality in juvenileswere largelyrelated to 2 human activities(drowning 29.2% and shooting20.8%). The inexperience of juveniles may explain the high num- 0-49 km. 50-99 km. > 99 kin. ber of individuals found drowned (Newton 1979), as this Distance of Ringing Locality (km) canse of mortality was never recorded for adult birds. Figure 2. Distributionof dispersaldistances of Booted The primary cause of mortality for adults was shooting Eaglesfrom their natal place during breeding season,ex- (27.3%), which was also common for jnveniles (20.8%) cluding data of birds ringed and recovered during the and among iramatures (20.0%). Thus, illegal killing same breeding season seemsto be a significantmortality factor for this species, 170 SHORT COMMUNIGATIONS VOL. 38, NO. 2 Figure 3. Ringing and recoverylocalities (filled circles) during autumn migration (15 September-14November) of Booted Eaglesmarked in Spain. Recoverieswithin Balearic Islands,where the speciesis sedentary,have been ex- cluded. including within Spain,where illegal predator control is va). The first was trapped after 184 d in Nigeria (3110 still an important conservationproblem (Villafuerte et al. km). The second was found predated by a raptor 503 d 1998). later in Togo (2980 km). The third was found dead 546 With respect to those birds found alive and immedi- d later in Mali (2708 km). ately released, the circumstancesof the recovery were Philopatry. To study dispersaldistances after the first trapping (40.9%), found insidebuildings (13.6%), found wintering season,I selectedthe recoveryrecords made with general trauma (9.1%), or found chilled (4.5%). during the breeding season, excluding the records of Among the birds found alive, but not immediately re- birds ringed and recovered during the same breeding leased,36.4% had generaltrauma, 27.3% were exhaust- season. Of the 32 selected records, 24 (75.0%) were ed, 9.1% had been shot, 9.1% had collided with electric made at a distanceless than 100 km from the birthplace powerlines, and the causeswere unknown for the re- (Fig. 1). Seven of these recordswere made at the same maining 18.1%. There were sevenrecords with no infor- locality where the birds were ringed (six adults and one mation about the recovery. bird younger than one yr). Raptors tend to be philopa- Dispersal Distances. The longest distances between tric, whereby young birds tend to return to natal areas ringing and recoverylocations for Booted Eaglesmarked when they reach breedingage (e.g., Newton 1979, New- in Spain were recorded for birds wintering or migrating ton et al. 1994, Forero et al. 2002), and my resultssup- in sub-SaharanAfrican countries. The greatest distance port this for Booted Eagles.With respectto young and record wasfor an eagle ringed in Alava (northern Spain) immature individuals, 57.1% were recovered between and recovered after 1093 d in Burkina Faso (3530 km). 0-100 km of their birthplace. This suggeststhat even Three other records corresponding to long migration young, nonbreeding birds may return to their natal areas journeys were of nestlingsringed in Murcia (southeast- during the next breeding season.However, there are sev- ern Spain) and Dofiana National Park (province of Huel- en casesof Booted Eaglesyounger than 1 (N = 5) and JUNE2004 SHORTCOMMUNICATIONS 171 Italy Algeria 3•' Ringingand recoveryin DofianaNational Park (Huelva); distances= 0 km and 6 km (N = 2). 1 Ringingand recovery in L'Albufera(Valencia); distance: 0 km (N= 1). Nigeria )rocco Togo Figure 4. Ringing and recovery localities during winter (15 November-14 February) of Booted Eagles marked in Spain. Recoverieswithin Balearic Islands,where the speciesis sedentary,have been excluded. 2-yr old (N = 2) recoveredvery far from their birthplace excluded), I obtained a picture