Distribution during nestling.

Fig. Nest distribution of SSE at Kamchatka
(click on the map
to expand it)

Use of landscape
Nest site use
Nets tree selection
Patterns of prey abundance

The types of habitats structure were determined on the base of the following characteristics, which were used for computer analisys of habitat's preferences:

A. Used landscape type (macrohabitat pattern) [investigated area in a square km]
1. low river valley [751]
2. high river valley [45]
3. top of the river valley (platou) with birch forest [347]
4. tundra with certain forest islands [81]
5. flat tundra [93]
6. sea shoreline [218 km]
7. old mixed coniferous taiga [541]
8. birch forest outside river basin [219]
9. mursh land [421]
10. mountain tundra [387]
11. rocky mountain [372]
12. agricultural land [291]
13. alpine zone with low bush
14. large old volcanic-glacier lakes(Kuril,Kronotskoe)[125]
15. old voulcano caldera with forest and water reservouir within [24]

B. shore line landscape:

1. Rocks and clifs used by sea birds
2. High latitude rocky coast with short litoral and covered by the bush on the platou, usually with numerous small river
3. Rocky coast without woodland and river valley
4. The sloping mountainside covered by bush
5. Flat tundra or woody coast with bank
6. Flat grassland or mursh with(or without) certain small wood island
7. Shallowed gulf and lagoon:
- with wooded coast
- with mursh coast
8. Grassland and mursh in basin of large river with the net of small streams , lakes and creeks.

C. litoral bottom characteristics

D. vegetation on the shoreline within 300 meter strip

- single species, mixed
- age
- continuosness: continuos forest,
fragmented, certain forest lands

E. type of the water reservoir: sea, lake, river, salt lagoon

F. feeding site:

- distance from the nest site,
- presence/absence of tidal currents,
- flood pattern
- transparency of water
- presence/absence of underground springs
- available prey list
- presence/absence salmon spowning grounds
- food availability and abundance
- period when food is available
- avarage size,
- depth,
- landscape of bottom,
- ice condition
- abundance of perch and place for roosting
- protection against strong whether conditions

G. type of nestling river valley:

- deep wide valley covered by old forest
- deep narrow valley covered by old forest
- flat murshland valley with certain wood island
- flat tundra and mursh land without any vegetation
- flat tundra valley with poplar forest band by the
stream

H. nest location:

1. on the tree
tree characteristics:
- species,
- class: dominant, subdominant,
- age: old, middle, young
- quality: live, dead, crashed
- distance from the forest boundary
- distance from the water boundary
- distance from the feeding site
2. on the rock

I. stream pattern

1. salt or fresh
2.absence/presence(number) of salmon spowning grounds,
3. physical characteristics
- depth
- width
- stream speed
- transparensness
- open/wood covered
- presence/absence of gravel bars, small open islands
- bottom feartures
- temperature

L. Coast pattern

- flat or breaked coast line,
- absence/presence of small islands,
- absence/presence lagoon,
- steep-walled coast,
- wooded/bare

Use of landscape.

The strong selected (i.e. habitat selection occurs) both nesting sites and wintering locations were showed (table 1).

Use of landscape
Nest site use
Nets tree selection
Patterns of prey abundance

Used landscape type:
1. low river valley
2. high river valley
3. top of the river valley (platou) with birch forest
4. tundra with certain forest islands
5. flat tundra
6. sea shoreline
7. old mixed coniferous taiga
8. birch forest outside river basin
9. mursh land
10. mountain tundra
11. rocky mountain
12. agricultural land
13. alpine zone with low bush
14. large old volcanic-glacier lakes(Kuril,Kronotskoe)
15. old voulcano caldera with forest and water reservouir within

Steller's eagle tend to form "collective" nestling and form winter aggregation in a local habitats. At Kamchatka Steller's eagle is usually strong "communal" bird without any trends to dispersal distribution. The most preferable both for nesting and wintering are low river valley landscape type and rocky sea shoreline. Additionally for wintering the large old volcanic lakes is the most important. There are two common hypothesys: 1. Mosaic distribution is the result of strong demand either to the nest sites or to the food base location. 2. The next one reason is the differentation in the level of human activity in a different habitats.
Nest site use. Within landscape type eagle shows a high variation in nest site use. This analysis shows that eagles use for nesting any sites which are available, i.e. there is no any selection of nest site withing selected landscape type.	Use of landscape Nest site use Nets tree selection Patterns of prey abundance

Nets tree selection Surprisently, nest tree selection was not found in Stellers eagle, like it is normall for another raptors. There is no some preference neither in tree size, nor age, nor tree species, nor tree construction.	Use of landscape Nest site use Nets tree selection Patterns of prey abundance
When shoreline was selected as nesting site, the significant preference of coast with gulf and lagoon was showed. There are no some significant preference in C, D, E characteristics (litoral bottom, vegetation on the shoreline, type of the water reservoir), i.e. Steller's eagle demonstrait a very high diversity in used habitats and their characteristics. So, we can conclude, that inspite of strictly landscape selection ocurrs, eagles select home ranges in a very different types of habitats with high diversity of physical characteristics.

Patterns of prey abundance
does not effected spacing below the landscape level.

wintering:
- status
- distribution