I have seen at least seventeen Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clanga this winter in the Jubail area. Birds winter at a number of sites in Saudi Arabia with the Jubail area the best for the species in the Eastern province. In winter, birds are almost always near wetland areas with large areas of reeds where they can hunt undisturbed. Another good wetland site is the large wetland area of Al Asfar Lake near Al Hassa. We recently found a few birds at Landfill/dump sites near Shaqra where no free-standing water is present. They occupy a fragmented range, breeding mainly in Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, mainland China and Mongolia. Passage or wintering birds occur in small numbers over a vast area, including central and eastern Europe, North Africa, East Africa, the Middle East, the Arabian peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent, south Asia and South-East Asia. The Greater Spotted Eagle is suspected to have undergone at least a moderately rapid decline over the last three generations as a result of habitat loss and degradation throughout its breeding and wintering ranges, together with the effects of disturbance, persecution and competition with other predators. The species is listed on the Red Data list as Vulnerable as the species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.
