This Map Shows All Of The Places Eagles Visited In One Year, And People Are Guessing Why They Stayed Clear Of The Sea (Updated)
Eagles are majestic creatures – not only because of their looks (because that’d be just shallow), but they’re also admired for their intelligence and incredible predatory skills. It’s no surprise that they are symbols of entire nations and countries, appear on national emblems, coins, and works of art. If you’ve ever wondered about this grand animal’s journeys, scroll down below to read an amazing story about how one man’s unexpected finding sparked curiosity for many people.
More info: Pikabu
A young man named Fahd Qash from Jizan region, Saudi Arabia found something unexpected in the swamp on his walk
Image credits: Faifa
What he found was a dead Steppe eagle with a GPS tracker device around its neck. Upon closer inspection, the man saw that the device had the owner’s email on it.
As it later turned out, the GPS has been fitted in Kazakhstan
Image credits: Faifa
The tracking device has saved all of the bird’s migration maps. Turns out, scientists were doing an experiment where they attached GPS on supposedly 20 eagles and marked every single place they visited on their long trips. The birds of prey have crossed many countries, but, interestingly enough, stayed clear of the sea.
The map below shows all the traveling that these eagles did in one year
Image credits: Faifa
These eagles have crossed many countries in the Middle East and, it is not sure why they avoided the Caspian as well as the Red Sea.
Researchers team called “British Birds” have tracked 16 Steppe eagles before and found out that the longest daily bird flight distance among all tracked eagles was approximately 355km. They have also recorded that through a complete annual cycle, an eagle spends around 31.5% in the wintering area, 41.9% in the breeding area and the rest 26.6% on migration. These statistics, as well as the map, once again proves that eagles are a constantly moving and migrating creature who travels more in their lifetimes than you could ever imagine.
This map did receive a lot of attention online with people trying to guess why did these eagles migrate the way they did
The article has been updated after receiving additional information about the research proving that this, in fact, is not a journey of one eagle in 20 years but the research that tracked numerous bird migrations in one year.
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The information in this post is kinda wrong, actually. The map shows the routs of 22 different eagles, not one. And they had their gps-trackers attached to them in 2018, not 20 years ago. 20 years ago even computers were a rare thing in Russia, not speaking about such tracking technologies :D How do you imagine such a thing working for 20 years straight?? Besides that, those eagles are originally from Kazahstan, not Russia and those tracker marks simply show the migration of the birds for the winter time.
Thank you for providing us with the additional information, we have now updated the article.
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Phenomenal, simply outstanding and impressive. I hope the GPS wasn't tied in to it too tightly.
He definitely had his favorite routes, didn't he? But I wonder what land feature is there along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He only went there twice. Very cool item for someone to find.
Well, he has not entered Pakistan, its the border of Afghanistan and Iran.
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The only warzone it crossed was in Yemen, where it looks to have lingered for a while. So probably not. (Assuming the commentators' corrections are accurate and that this does not in fact show 20 years of data. Otherwise it may also have been in southern Iraq in 2003.)
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Large birds, like eagles, storks, cranes, etc. would use too much energy flapping their wings all the way from the northern land masses to the southern in order to winter. They would have to do so to fly over seas, including the Caspian, Black, Mediterranean and Red. Instead, they find thermals -- sort of hot air cylinders that rise from the ground during the day. They use these to float, in spirals, until they reach the top of each one, sometimes hundreds of meters in the air, then glide down to catch the next one, and glide up again. In that way, they conserve energy, and are able to eat each evening, when they land. In some places, you'll see hundreds of large birds just circling throughout the migrating seasons. Quite a sight.
This and one of the posts that was captured in the image are the reason they "avoid" the sea. Has nothing to do with the cell towers and reception to the tracker and everything to do with the thermals for the larger birds. Many of the larger birds don't flap they glide and need the thermals to get them higher so they can glide longer.
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I just finished reading your article about the incredible journey of tracking an eagle's movements over twenty years, and I couldn't be more fascinated by the insights you shared. First of all, kudos to you for shedding light on the extraordinary work that researchers are doing to understand these majestic creatures better. Your writing really brought out the dedication and passion they have for conserving wildlife. I'm truly in awe of the way technology, particularly GPS tracking, is revolutionizing our understanding of nature. Also Read: Eagle Facts: Characteristics, Species, Lifespan & More
Ooh this info is not completely true as the locations and route of the eagle don't correspond with coordinates provided on https://mycurrentlocation.co/
I was actually thinking if they detected the musty smell of salty air and avoided it mainly due to the reason that they only drink fresh water?
Excellent information, especially to help people be more aware of such importance in nature, more people may become interested in our environment, thanks !!!
No wonder I used to see a lot of these guys around Tehran, Iran :)
Obviously he was just breaking apart his time in Tehran so his nose job wouldn’t be as obvious.
These birds typically hunt the shallows and need a place to roost at night and to eat. You won't find those things int he middle of the open water.
Even I don't agree with this, - 20 years back technology, working for 20 years non-stop and on top of it's from Russia. even not coming from government :)
The signal is marked by repeater towers. The sea avoidance is a product of this. They didn't avoid the water, instead the repeaters were on land with about a 30 mile range. That means the bird could have been up to 30 mile from the track.
Actually I think it is really possible that it track it for a long time, that black panel looks like solar battery. As for people questioning why it avoid country, it is actually avoiding cities because less food.
Stupidest article EVER. Eagles live on land, not over water. They feed on the SHORES of rivers and lakes. THEY DONT LIVE ON SEAS, that’s why the maps show exactly that.
he ate the cat, but the cat came back the very next day. that bird was a goner.
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That was where the radio receivers were, not where the bird was. :-)
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Off the top of my head, I can think of two possible reasons for avoiding the sea: (1) They wanted to be able eat, and they couldn't catch fish, and (2) they navigate by using landmarks, of which there are none at sea.
He seems to have a preference for mostly Muslim countries, are eagles religious?
If they are then that eagle must be still deciding between Shia and Sunni!
Load More Replies... "We" put that stuff on animals so we can understand their way of life better with the goal to protect them better. Most species get extinct because their habitat is disturbed or gets destroyed if we don't know how they live we don't know what is important to consider. This research often is essential in protecting species. Wether it disturbed the eagle or not I can't tell but he lived 20 years with it so chances are that it didn't bother him (much).
Load More Replies...
Another proof that humans are the most stupid land creatures.
Load More Replies...
The information in this post is kinda wrong, actually. The map shows the routs of 22 different eagles, not one. And they had their gps-trackers attached to them in 2018, not 20 years ago. 20 years ago even computers were a rare thing in Russia, not speaking about such tracking technologies :D How do you imagine such a thing working for 20 years straight?? Besides that, those eagles are originally from Kazahstan, not Russia and those tracker marks simply show the migration of the birds for the winter time.
Thank you for providing us with the additional information, we have now updated the article.
Load More Replies... Phenomenal, simply outstanding and impressive. I hope the GPS wasn't tied in to it too tightly.
He definitely had his favorite routes, didn't he? But I wonder what land feature is there along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He only went there twice. Very cool item for someone to find.
Well, he has not entered Pakistan, its the border of Afghanistan and Iran.
Load More Replies... The only warzone it crossed was in Yemen, where it looks to have lingered for a while. So probably not. (Assuming the commentators' corrections are accurate and that this does not in fact show 20 years of data. Otherwise it may also have been in southern Iraq in 2003.)
Load More Replies... Large birds, like eagles, storks, cranes, etc. would use too much energy flapping their wings all the way from the northern land masses to the southern in order to winter. They would have to do so to fly over seas, including the Caspian, Black, Mediterranean and Red. Instead, they find thermals -- sort of hot air cylinders that rise from the ground during the day. They use these to float, in spirals, until they reach the top of each one, sometimes hundreds of meters in the air, then glide down to catch the next one, and glide up again. In that way, they conserve energy, and are able to eat each evening, when they land. In some places, you'll see hundreds of large birds just circling throughout the migrating seasons. Quite a sight.
This and one of the posts that was captured in the image are the reason they "avoid" the sea. Has nothing to do with the cell towers and reception to the tracker and everything to do with the thermals for the larger birds. Many of the larger birds don't flap they glide and need the thermals to get them higher so they can glide longer.
Load More Replies... I just finished reading your article about the incredible journey of tracking an eagle's movements over twenty years, and I couldn't be more fascinated by the insights you shared. First of all, kudos to you for shedding light on the extraordinary work that researchers are doing to understand these majestic creatures better. Your writing really brought out the dedication and passion they have for conserving wildlife. I'm truly in awe of the way technology, particularly GPS tracking, is revolutionizing our understanding of nature. Also Read: Eagle Facts: Characteristics, Species, Lifespan & More
Ooh this info is not completely true as the locations and route of the eagle don't correspond with coordinates provided on https://mycurrentlocation.co/
I was actually thinking if they detected the musty smell of salty air and avoided it mainly due to the reason that they only drink fresh water?
Excellent information, especially to help people be more aware of such importance in nature, more people may become interested in our environment, thanks !!!
No wonder I used to see a lot of these guys around Tehran, Iran :)
Obviously he was just breaking apart his time in Tehran so his nose job wouldn’t be as obvious.
These birds typically hunt the shallows and need a place to roost at night and to eat. You won't find those things int he middle of the open water.
Even I don't agree with this, - 20 years back technology, working for 20 years non-stop and on top of it's from Russia. even not coming from government :)
The signal is marked by repeater towers. The sea avoidance is a product of this. They didn't avoid the water, instead the repeaters were on land with about a 30 mile range. That means the bird could have been up to 30 mile from the track.
Actually I think it is really possible that it track it for a long time, that black panel looks like solar battery. As for people questioning why it avoid country, it is actually avoiding cities because less food.
Stupidest article EVER. Eagles live on land, not over water. They feed on the SHORES of rivers and lakes. THEY DONT LIVE ON SEAS, that’s why the maps show exactly that.
he ate the cat, but the cat came back the very next day. that bird was a goner.
Load More Replies... That was where the radio receivers were, not where the bird was. :-)
Load More Replies... Off the top of my head, I can think of two possible reasons for avoiding the sea: (1) They wanted to be able eat, and they couldn't catch fish, and (2) they navigate by using landmarks, of which there are none at sea.
He seems to have a preference for mostly Muslim countries, are eagles religious?
If they are then that eagle must be still deciding between Shia and Sunni!
Load More Replies... "We" put that stuff on animals so we can understand their way of life better with the goal to protect them better. Most species get extinct because their habitat is disturbed or gets destroyed if we don't know how they live we don't know what is important to consider. This research often is essential in protecting species. Wether it disturbed the eagle or not I can't tell but he lived 20 years with it so chances are that it didn't bother him (much).
Load More Replies... Another proof that humans are the most stupid land creatures.
Load More Replies...
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