The Lesser Spotted Eagle is distributed from central, eastern and south-east Europe, eastwards to Iran. In Europe it occurs as a breeding species in Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine. The total number of pairs of the nominate race A. p. pomarina is unknown but has been estimated to be around 20,000 pairs. Another very rare subspecies - A. p. hastata - exists in parts of India and Bangladesh. In many countries, data on Lesser Spotted Eagle breeding populations are still deficient. This eagle has probably inhabited most of the European continent, but it has been extirpated from the western and south-western parts of its range through constant persecution. Its decrease is still in progress in several countries.

The Lesser Spotted Eagle breeds in forest but feeds on adjacent pastures, cultivated areas and wet meadows. The breeding habitat consists of montane forest (in the Caucasus), hills, and lowland floodplain areas and also lowland forests. A very important factor in the choice of nest sites is the presence of open landscape near to the nest. It hunts over open fields and agricultural areas. Many types of open landscape are important, but tall crops such as maize or sunflowers inhibit access to prey. In lowlands important features of the feeding habitat are single standing trees or tree groups, hay stacks, masts or other vertical structures enabling successful hunting for the eagle in unfavorable weather conditions such as prolonged rain. During migration and wintering a variety of habitats is used - open landscapes, shrub land, and wetlands - but very little is known about habitat requirements and ecology during this period, which extends over half of the year.

The Lesser Spotted Eagle builds a large nest of sticks on trees below the canopy, mostly in deciduous forest and only rarely in dry pine forest. Very exceptionally nests are built on rocks and on the ground.
Adult plumage is acquired after several (probably 3-4) years. Lesser Spotted Eagles build their own nest, accept artificial nests or those of other large birds (e.g. Common Buzzard, Black Kite, Goshawk, Black Stork). Nests are changed frequently from one year to the other by most pairs but instances are known when eyries where occupied in up to ten consecutive years.

The diet consists of small mammals Apodemus, Microtus, Hamster, and sometimes Suslik. Also common in the diet are some species of frogs and other amphibians. In Greece the most important food is snakes and also lizards. Insects and several bird species are also taken.

This species has an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km2. It has a large global population estimated to be 100,000-1,000,000 individuals (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001). Global population trends have not been quantified; there is evidence of a population decline (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001), but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

The Lesser Spotted Eagle is a migratory raptor highly dependent on soaring and thus thermals, avoiding large bodies of water. The species migrates through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania to winter in Central and Southern Africa: southern Zaire, northern Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, southern Angola, Botswana and northern South Africa. In Turkey and Israel the Lesser Spotted Eagle is a passage migrant. Counts of numbers passing through Israel during the autumn migration between 1982 and 1996 have ranged from 50,000 to 140,000 birds. Important concentration points during migration (bottle-neck areas) include Burgas (Bulgaria), the Bosphorus, the Belen Pass (Turkey), Lebanon, Israel, Suez, and Borcka/Arhavi (Caucasus, Turkey). A satellite-tracked juvenile covered 6000 km from Latvia to Sudan in barely a month, remaining there for over 6 weeks, before continuing to Kenya. Adults arrive at breeding grounds in Apr. Race hastata apparently not migratory.

article number 1 Title
Productivity and diet of lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina) in Lithuania in 2001-2003
Author(s): Rimgaudas Treinys, Deivis Dementavius
Abstract: In 2001-2003, the data on the productivity and diet of Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) were collected in Central, Northern and Eastern parts of Lithuania. Though during the mentioned period pro..[more]..
Source: Acta Zoologica Lituanica, 2004, Volumen 14, Numerus 2
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article number 2 Title
Zum Kainismus beim Schreiader Aquila pomarina
Author(s): Meyburg, B.-U. (2001)
Abstract: Detailed observations were made of Cainism in a Lesser Spotted Eagle's (LSE) nest, whereby this procedure generally leads to the death of the second chick a few days after hatching. The time-lapse bet..[more]..
Source: ornithoecologica 4: 269-278
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article number 3 Title
The Situation of the Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina in Germany: The need for an Action Plan and active Conservation
Author(s): Meyburg, B.-U., T. Langgemach, K. Graszynski & J. Böhner (2004)
Abstract: Since about 1800 the total breeding area of the Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina in Germany has shrunk by some 90 % from a then 83,000 km2 to a small residual area today of some 10,000km2. The wes..[more]..
Source: Pp. 601-613 in: Chancellor, R. D. & B.-U. Meyburg (eds.): Raptors Worldwide.
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article number 4 Title
Geschlechtsreife, Ansiedlungsentfernung, Alter und Todes- ursachen beim Schreiadler (Aquila pomarina).
Author(s): Meyburg, B.-U., T. Belka, St. Danko, J. Wójciak, G. Heise, T. Blohm & H. Matthes (2005)
Abstract: To date there are no definite conclusions as to the age at which the Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina reaches sexual maturity. In the course of a long-term study we were able to trap 4- and 5-year..[more]..
Source: Limicola 19: 153-179
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article number 5 Title
Genetic differentiation and hybridization between Greater and Lesser Spotted Eagles (Accipitriformes: Aquila clanga, A. pomarina)
Author(s): Helbig, A.J., Seibold, I., Kocum, A., Liebers, D., Irwin, J., Bergmanis, U., Meyburg, B.-U., Scheller, W., Stubbe, M. & S. Bensch (2005)
Abstract: Greater and lesser spotted eagles (Aquila clanga, A. pomarina) are two closely related forest eagles overlapping in breeding range in east-central Europe. In recent years a number of mixed pairs have ..[more]..
Source: J. Ornithol. 226-234
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article number 6 Title
Predicted and observed migration speed in Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina.
Author(s): Hedenstrom A.
Abstract: Satellite telemetry has recently been used to track the migration of eight Lesser Spotted Eagles Aquilla pomarina and one Spotted Eagle A. clanga (Meyburg et al. 1993, 1995a and b). I used aerodynamic..[more]..
Source: ARDEA 85 (1): 29-36
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