Steppe Eagle

The steppe eagle is a large, bulky, robust eagle, mainly dark brown, with a longish, very thick neck and a relatively small head carrying a strong bill and long gape-line. It looks long-winged, with a longish, rather rounded tail and markedly well-feathered, almost dishevelled-looking legs that mark it as a booted eagle. It tends to perch fairly upright in the open, often on isolated trees, posts, rocks, mounds or straw-piles. It was once treated as the same species as the tawny eagle. (Wikipedia, general species account)

Although its breeding range is extensive, the steppe eagle nests essentially in only four countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. It once also bred in eastern Europe into the twentieth century. The species is entirely migratory, wintering in east Africa and, to a lesser extent, southern Africa, from southern Sudan through most of east Africa to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and south to northern South Africa. (Wikipedia, general species account)