Aquila heliaca | UAE National Red List of Birds
Publication
Asessment status in full
Critically Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
CR
Assessment status criteria
D
Assessment rationale/justification
This species has an extremely small non-breeding population in the UAE, which qualifies it for listing as Critically Endangered. On a global scale, the species is listed as Vulnerable, as its small population is in rapid decline. Therefore, breeding populations outside of the country may not have a large rescue effect. The population trend within the UAE is not known. Given the global situation, the species is retained as Critically Endangered at the national level.
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Threats listed in assessment
It is uncertain whether this species is impacted by any specific threats within UAE, although collisions with powerlines are possible. It does face a range of threats across its global range, all of which could impact individuals that visit UAE, and these are described below.Breeding sites are threatened primarily by intensive forestry in the mountains, and by the shortage of large indigenous trees in the lowlands (e.g. illegal tree cutting affected several pairs in Russia [Karyakin et al. 2009a] and Bulgaria).;The species is sensitive to human disturbance, which means its breeding range can be highly restricted by human presence and infrastructural development in Central Europe (and probably elsewhere in its range e.g. Karyakin;2011) (M. Horváth in litt. 2016). Infrastructural and settlement network was the primary cause for the absence of the species at more than 30% of its potential habitats at the Hungarian Plain (Horváth 2009).Other threats are loss and alteration of feeding habitats, shortages of small and medium-sized prey species (particularly ground-squirrels Spermophilus spp.), nest robbing and illegal trade, shooting, poisoning, electrocution by powerlines and collisions with vehicles. An average of c.450 Eastern Imperial Eagles were killed by powerlines during the 2009 breeding season in the Altai region - 25% of the total population of the region (Karyakin et al. 2009b). Habitat alterations associated with agricultural expansion threaten historical and potential breeding sites in former range countries. In Central Europe intentional predator poisoning became the first cause of mortality from 2006 onwards affecting more than 80 specimens in 10 years only in Hungary (Horváth et al. 2011, M. Horváth in litt. 2016). Hunting, poisoning, prey depletion and other mortality factors are also likely to pose threats along migration routes and in some wintering areas. Competition for nest sites with Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga has been reported in the Altai region, Russia (Karyakin et al. 2009c).
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
History
It is assessed that in 1996, the national Red List status of this species would have been the same as in this assessment.