The Short-toed snake-eagle (Circaetus gallicus) project with satellite telemetry, started in 2010 in Regional Park Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane with the Regional Fauna Observatory and the University of Alicante (Spain), goes on.

The research has allowed, for the first time in Italy to obtain, through the marking with satellite transmitters of 5 individuals, important data concerning the migration strategies adopted by the species.

The project goes on thanks to two transmitters made available by the University of Alicante that, together with the CRAS of Matera, has allowed marking two young Short-toed snake-eagles during the reproductive season of 2013.

The transmitters, of 45 gr of weight (less than 3% of the total weight of the eagles) works through satellite telemetry, a technique through which it is possible to follow the birds migrations using small radio-transmitter powered by solar panels. These instruments, placed in a small backpack a few days before the eagles left the nest, send data (coordinates, time and date) downloadable via internet.

The Short-toed snake-eagle is an eagle nesting in Mediterranean habitat, eating almost exclusively snakes, spending the winter in Africa.

Thanks to the GPS system, it is possible to exactly locate the eagles and evaluate the migration routes used to pass through the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert, as well as the wintering in Tropical Africa and Sicily.

Of the 5 young eagles made during the past years, unfortunately, two have been illegally killed by poachers (one in Nigeria, one in Sicily and one in Spin), while of the other two the signal has been lost in Africa for unknown reasons. Also for the two eagles recently marked, it is possible to follow the daily movements recorded on the maps present on the website of the Park.

The first results have been published in the article “Extremely detoured migration in an inexperienced bird: interplay of transport costs and social interactions” on Journal of Avian Biology, and show how these young eagles reach Africa flying along the coast of France, Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar instead of crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

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Mappa della migrazione del biancone Egidio

Visualizza Egidio - autumn migration 2013 in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori

Mappa della migrazione del biancone Irene
Migrazione autunnale 2013

Visualizza Irene - autumn migration 2013 in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori

Any citation of the contents of this page is forbidden without the permission of the project managers. For any enquiry please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.