Aquila adalberti
Aquila adalberti
This species is considered an Iberian endemic, breeding only in Spain and Portugal, excluding all of their islands (Keller et al., 2020; BirdLife International, 2024). In Iberia, it is currently distributed across the southwestern quadrant of the peninsula, with the main populations associated with mountain systems and forested areas of this quadrant (Montes de Toledo, Sierra Morena, Central System, Extremaduran mountains, Doñana, and La Janda), although in recent years it has been expanding into the plains of both plateaus (Martí and Del Moral, 2023; Castaño and Guzmán in SEO/BirdLife, 2022; Equipa Atlas, 2024).
In Madrid, it occupies almost the entire region, being scarcer in the southeastern quadrant, an area it has been colonizing in recent years and continues to expand into (Díaz et al., 1994; SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
Within the national park, it is very scarce, with breeding points outside its usual habitat and where its typical prey are not abundant. In recent years, reproduction has occurred within the black vulture colony in the ZEPA Alto Lozoya, occupying a vulture nest in Scots pine at a considerable altitude for at least five consecutive years. In recent years, a new territory seems to be forming in the southernmost part of the protected area.
This is a steppe-affiliated eagle, linked to Mediterranean mountains and dehesa landscapes (González, 1991; González et al., 2008), placing nests mainly on oaks and, to a lesser extent, on ash, pine, eucalyptus, or poplar groves. As the population has grown and been able to occupy its optimal habitat (during population lows it was confined to mountain areas in Madrid and mountainous landscapes), in recent years it has expanded into riparian woods and small tree patches amid agricultural lands (Castaño, 2019).
Within the national park, it has occupied a breeding point in an atypical habitat for the species: a dense pine forest at considerable altitude. Other observations of individuals and potential territories in formation were made in open forested areas with meadows and shrublands, where its usual prey, the rabbit, is present.
At the global scale, it is considered Vulnerable (VU; 2021). In Europe, it would also be classified in the same category (VU; 2021); similarly, at the national level in Spain.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) lists it as Endangered.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Castaño, J. P. 2010. Las rapaces diurnas y su conservación en Castilla-La Mancha. J. P. Castaño ed. Madrid.
Castaño, J. P. 2019. Situação atual e conservação da Águia-imperial-ibérica em Castilla-La Mancha. Actas de Seminário Conservação de Aves de Rapina. Proyecto Life Imperial. Castro Verde.
Equipa Atlas. 2024. III Atlas das aves nidificantes em Portugal (2016-2024). SPEA/BirdLife, ICNF, LabOr/UÉ, IFCN. Lisboa.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
González, L. M. 1991. Historia natural del águila imperial ibérica. ICONA. Madrid.
González, L. M., Oria, J., Sánchez, R., Margalida, A., Aranda, A., Prada, L., Caldera, J. y Molina, J. I. 2008. Status and habitat changes in the endangered Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti population during 1974-2004: implications for its recovery. Bird Conservation International, 18: 242-259.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
Martí, R. y Del Moral, J. C. (eds.). 2003. Atlas de las aves reproductoras de España. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.). 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.