Effect of selected environmental factors on hunting methods and hunting success in the lesser spotted eagle Aquila pomarina in North-Eastern Poland

Hunting methods and hunting success and their associations with some environmental factors were studied in Lesser Spotted Eagle. Birds hunted mostly by patrol-flights (73.6%), secondary by perchhunting (23.8%). In the morning-noon period birds hunted using patrol flights more frequently than in the afternoon, while in the afternoon they more often used perch-hunting. Average hunting success reached 24% (n = 37), but it was much greater on freshly mown meadows.