Bird Album
Steppe Eagle
Aquila nipalensis Hodgson, 1833
≈86 cmLength203 cmWingspan2.7 kgWeight
This large, stout eagle is mainly dark brown, with fluffy leg feathers and a gape reaching the rear edge of the eye.
Busiest months: February–March · Most records: India, Israel, Nepal
How to identify
Field marks
- Dark brown overall, with a thick neck and relatively small head
- Gape long, reaching rear edge of eye
- Leg feathers fluffy
- Adult often has a yellowish-brown patch on nape, more prominent in the east
Male, female and young
Juvenile usually paler than adult, with broad white tips to wing and tail feathers; adult eyes brown to hazel, juvenile eyes dark brown.
Where and when it's recorded
Steppe Eagle has been recorded at 631 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 58 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "Booted eagles".
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Steppe Eagle?
The Steppe Eagle is about ≈86 cm long, with a wingspan of 203 cm and weighs around 2.7 kg.
Where does the Steppe Eagle live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: central. It is most often recorded in India, Israel and Nepal.
When is the best time to see the Steppe Eagle?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in February and March (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Steppe Eagle endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Steppe Eagle as Endangered.
What does the Steppe Eagle eat?
Main food: Vertebrate prey.
What family is the Steppe Eagle in?
It belongs to the family Kites, Hawks, Eagles (Accipitridae), order Accipitriformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈86 cm
- Wingspan
- 203 cm
- Weight
- 2.7 kg
- Habitat
- Grassland
- Diet
- Vertebrate prey
- Lifestyle
- Feeds in the air
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Endangered
More measurements
- Wing
- 560 mm
- Tail
- 271 mm
- Bill
- 54 mm
- Tarsus
- 95 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: central
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Subspecies · 1
- Aquila nipalensis nipalensis e Kazakhstan to n China | non-breeding: s Asia
Classification
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Kites, Hawks, Eagles Accipitridae
- Genus
- Aquila
Other birds in the genus Aquila
Tawny EagleAquila rapax
Spanish Imperial EagleAquila adalberti
Eastern Imperial EagleAquila heliaca
Cassin's Hawk-EagleAquila africana
Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
Bonelli's EagleAquila fasciata
African Hawk-EagleAquila spilogaster
Verreaux's EagleAquila verreauxii
Gurney's EagleAquila gurneyi
Wedge-tailed EagleAquila audax
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Sumeet Moghe. ↗
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