Skip to content

Tawny Eagles in Rajasthan Nested Close to Protected Grasslands and Shifted Their Diet Seasonally

Tawny eagle in flight in Rajasthan, India
Research · Ecology

A study of tawny eagles (Aquila rapax) in Rajasthan’s Desert National Park found ten active nests during the 2025–2026 breeding season, all within or close to protected grasslands. Nine of the ten nests were inside protected enclosures or immediately beside them, with an average distance of 1.56 km from enclosure boundaries.

Researchers searched roughly 2,000 km² and found all ten nests at the tops of trees, most often Prosopis cineraria. The nesting trees averaged more than 7.5 m in height. A separate raptor survey recorded 14 tawny eagle sightings, concentrated largely in the same part of the landscape where the nests had been found.

Females attended the nest while males supplied most prey

Breeding behaviour was followed through focal observations and CCTV monitoring, producing about 900 hours of behavioural data. Most eggs were laid in December and January, hatching occurred mainly in January and February, and young fledged from late March into April. Females carried out most nest attendance and chick care, while males were the main providers of prey. Female nest attendance declined as chicks grew, while chick vigilance increased with age.

Diet shifted from mammals toward reptiles as the season warmed

Diet was reconstructed from pellets, CCTV footage and drone observations, producing 224 prey records from nine nests. Mammals made up 41.9% of recorded prey and reptiles 40.1%. The composition changed through the season: mammalian prey was more important in cooler months, while spiny-tailed lizards (Saara hardwickii) became the dominant prey as temperatures rose and the lizards became more available.

The authors describe the work as the first detailed quantitative assessment of habitat selection, breeding behaviour and diet in India’s tawny eagle population. They conclude that the protected grasslands of Desert National Park are important for the population by combining suitable nesting sites, relatively low disturbance and productive foraging habitat. The concentration of nests in and near these grasslands is strong spatial evidence, but the study did not isolate protected status itself as the cause of nest-site choice.

Sources and image credit

  1. Varma, G., & Kher, V. S. (2026). Breeding biology and diet of Tawny eagles (Aquila rapax) in Desert National Park, Rajasthan, India [Master’s thesis, Wildlife Institute of India]. Wildlife Institute of India Digital Repository.Primary institutional repository source. The item is issued as 2026 and was accessioned on 30 July 2026. The study covered the 2025–2026 breeding season in Desert National Park, Rajasthan, and examined nest-site selection, breeding behaviour and diet.

Image: Tisha Mukherjee — wild Tawny Eagle in flight at Tal Chhapar Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India, 24 November 2025. Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative species image; not a bird from the Desert National Park study. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax Explore species

Independent research and conservation news archive

Did you find this information useful?

Wildlife Vagabond is independently built and maintained. Voluntary support helps cover source verification, hosting and continued work on research and conservation news.

Support Wildlife Vagabond

The news archive will remain freely available.