A total of 34 territorial pairs of eastern imperial eagles were reported. Thirty of them built nests, and 20 successfully fledged a total of 38 young. Three young even fledged from seven nests.

"The core area of the eastern imperial eagle's occurrence is the Soutok/Confluence Protected Landscape Area (South Moravia). Of the six pairs, four fledged young. Two other successful pairs were watched in the immediate vicinity of the PLA. One of them was a double-clutch (the second clutch), which is a very rare in eastern imperial eagles. It occurs when the original nesting is unsuccessful," explains David Horal from the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic. 

"As part of the LIFE Eurokite project, three young birds from nests in the Břeclav region have been equipped with transmitters so far. Two of them were fitted with transmitters in 2025. This will enable us to study the migration habits of eastern imperial eagles, and the knowledge gained will help us to protect them more effectively. These magnificent birds are threatened in particular by illegal persecution [1]. Another problem is unsecured high-voltage pylons, which generally pose a major risk for many birds of prey in the landscape in te Czech Republic," highlights Zdeněk Vermouzek from the Czech Ornithological Society.

Some of the young birds have been ringed with coloured field-readable rings. Thanks to this, it was discovered that one of last year's young birds from the Soutok/Confluence Protected Landscape Area travelled as far as southern France, to the Camargue region. This is only the fourth known case of a young rom the Pannonian population migrating westward. Most of young birds fledged in the Czech Republic remain in Central Europe, while a smaller number spend their first winter in Greece or Turkey.

Thanks to consistent protection and some conservation field projects, the number of eastern imperial eagles has been increasing. Austria also reported a record year in 2025, with 50 pairs nesting there. In Serbia, a census confirmed 19 nesting pairs, and a steady increase has also been found in Slovakia and, above all, in the core Hungarian population. The species is also increasing iin numbers n Bulgaria.

"Not only is the eastern imperial eagle population growing, but its nesting range is expanding north, northwest, and west. There is evidence of nesting attempts in southeastern Bavaria, about 150 km west of the westernmost nesting pair to date, and in Central Bohemia. One pair successfully nested in eastern Bohemia and two pairs in central Moravia. It is expected that the eastern imperial eagle will gradually colonize the lowland areas of Poland as well," adds David Horal from the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic. 

Adult eastern imperial eagles have a yellowish-coloured back of the head. This, combined with the white colouring on their shoulders reminiscent of royal ermine, has earned them the nickname "royal" in some languages and even "imperial" or "tsar" in others. They originally inhabited steppes and forest-steppes with scattered shrubs. In conditions in the Czech Republic, the raptor species most often chooses small forests, windbreaks, and vegetation on the banks of rivers or fishponds connected to large open agricultural/farmland areas, where forges for food. It builds its nest in the tops of trees on the edges of vegetation, often on a mistletoe tuft or cluster. The female lays one to three eggs, and both parents participate in nesting. They usually reach sexual maturity at the age of 5-6 years, but younger, fully uncoloured birds can also nest successfully and live for several decades.

Notes:
[1] At the beginning of February 2025, a telemetrically tagged male imperial eagle was found shot dead in its nesting territory in the Znojmo region. In 2024, a total of three tagged imperial eagles originating from the Czech Republic died in Austria – in one case it was a collision with a car, in two ones poaching is suspected.

Photo: Hynek Matušík, Jindřiška Mlečková