Pallas’s Fish Eagle
Pallas's Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus) is the most poorly studied eagle within the Northern Hemisphere. Virtually nothing is known about the species' non-breeding habitat requirements. Even worse, there has never been a study examining the seasonal movements of this elusive bird. Prior to the 1900’s, Pallas’s Fish Eagle were common throughout a large portion of Asia, extending west to east from the Caspian Sea to China, and north to south from Russia to India and Myanmar. Now, the species is extinct in Myanmar and along the Caspian Sea. The remaining population is classified as “globally vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Red List. India’s population is declining at an alarming rate and can only be located in 4 of the original 13 states it once inhabited. Loss of habitat and prey, human disturbance, and agricultural chemicals are believed to be responsible for the severe drop in population over the past 100 years.
The Expedition
This December, myself and a group of local volunteers from the Bombay Natural History Society will set out for Assam in northeast India. We will trap these elusive eagles with padded leg traps (tested on human fingers to avoid injuries to the bird) and ground snares. Upon capture, we will fit Pallas’s Fish Eagles with 70 g GSM-GPS units on Teflon ribbon backpacks designed to fall off after a few years. This will track the birds by satellite and allow us to see their location up to every 10 minutes with an accuracy of up to 18 m.
The locations collected will allows us to finally understand when the Pallas’s Fish Eagles depart from their nest territories and where they spend the non-breeding season. You can be one of the first to unravel this mystery alongside dedicated researchers from around the world.
To acomplish this expedition, we need your help. Each satellite unit costs $3,600.00 and GSM data collection is 30.00 a month per unit. Our goal is to have a minimum of two transmitters for India to match the two units deployed in Mongolia. However, the more backpacks we have, the more we'll learn. We have already acquired grant support for international travel and in-country expenses. All we need now is funds for the transmitters. Your support for this project is crucial to its success! Even if you are unable to donate, spreading the word about this overlooked, but magnificent bird, is also extrememly beneficial to our goals. Learn alongside us as we explore the Northern Hemisphere's least understood eagle species!
The Researchers
My name is Marla Steele, a doctoral student majoring in Biology at the University of Arkansas. I am conducting the study under the supervision of Dr. Sundev Gombobaatar (Director of the Mongolian Ornithological Society and head of the Ornithology Lab at the National University of Mongolia) and Dr. Vibhu Prakash (Director of the Pinjore Vulture Breeding Center and former Principal Scientist for the Bombay Natural History Society).
Raptors of the World by James Ferguson-Lees and David Christie initially inspired my interests in this majestic bird. While reading the section on Pallas’s Fish Eagle, I came across something I had never seen before: a home range map covered in question marks. The more I tried to uncover regarding this unusual lack of information, the more apparent it became that this bird remains misunderstood. Its population is dropping at an alarming rate and its true numbers may be masked by its misleadingly broad range. Unfortunately, we cannot develop an effective conservation plan because we do not even know where it migrates to six months out of the year.
With a new sense of purpose, I contacted my Dr. Sundev Gombobaatar (Dr. Gomboo), whom I met while presenting my undergraduate research on Japanese raptor migration at the Asian Raptor Research and Conservation (ARRCN) meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He fully supported my interests and we began to plan the study. Upon further reading, I realized that the eagles in the Mongolia and India breed at completely opposite times of the year. Dr. Gomboo and I concluded that the Indian eagles might be a completely separate population with their own unique breeding and migration habits. In order to understand these perplexing differences, we needed help.
In January 2012, I completed a few initial surveys of protected national parks in India for Pallas’s Fish Eagles while establishing relations with the park managers. This allowed me to receive permission to enter protected habitat that was inaccessible to the general public and increase awareness of the eagles’ plight. I also met with the Director of the Pinjore Vulture Breeding Center and former Principal Scientist of the Bombay Natural History Society (One of India’s oldest, publishing scientific societies) Dr. Vibhu Prakash. Dr. Prakash studied Indian raptor habitat requirements and Pallas’s Fish Eagle were one of his study species. Upon hearing our proposal, Dr. Prakash agreed to work with us on behalf of the Bombay Natural History Society, thus providing the final integral link to the project. This not only allowed us to create a more thorough study, but also established a new and exciting partnership between four different organizations in three different countries!
We will be fitting two Pallas's Fish Eagles with GSM-transmitters in Mongolia this June.
The research is an international partnership between researchers from the University of Arkansas, India’s Bombay Natural History Society, the Mongolian Ornithological Society, and the National University of Mongolia.
