Adults are dark brown with broad wings; young birds have prominent white spots on the back and wings.
Adults are nearly uniform dark brown with a white comma-shaped mark at the wrist of the underwing. Juveniles show white spots on the back and upper wings.
Greater Spotted Eagles from European breeding populations do not all winter in the same places. Researchers used GPS tracking on adult eagles from Estonia, Poland, and Belarus. The 28 tracked birds spent winter across Africa, southern Europe, and the Middle East, with migration patterns differing among breeding populations. Overall, 46% wintered in Africa, 43% in southern Europe, and 11% in the Middle East.
Estonian birds wintered in southern Europe, while birds from Poland and Belarus were split between southern Europe and Africa. Fifteen of 29 recorded wintering birds used protected sites. In Africa, only two of 14 wintering sites had protection, showing why conservation planning needs to include wetlands beyond the breeding grounds.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Tracked Greater Spotted Eagles used widely separated wintering areas, and few African sites were protected. Linking surveys of breeding grounds with wintering wetlands can support conservation planning across countries.