The steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) favours open dry habitats, such as desert, semi-desert, steppes, or savannah - as its name suggests. It breeds from Romania east through the south Russian and Central Asian steppes to Mongolia. The European and Central Asian birds winter in Africa, and the eastern birds in India. The steppe eagle's diet is largely fresh carrion of all kinds, but it will kill rodents and other small mammals up to the size of a hare, and birds up to the size of partridges. The steppe eagle is pictured on the national flag of Kazakhstan, pictured flying beneath the sun.
