Visit please Javier Blasco-Zumeta’s site to find some information on identification of birds in nature. This information sheet - 
(En) on two pages with demonstrative photos (moult and age-specific changes) - could be helpful in the field together with article of Guido Premuda and Andrea Corso about the plumage characters. Also we have the fullsized illustrations to view the plumage more particularly.
15 pairs are surveyed since 1996 in the west of department, on the slopes of the huge hercynian massif of Margeride. Very few human activities in valleys. None intensive agricultural practices on the boarding plateaux (cattle: cow, sheep). Birds nest in V-shaped valleys of the Allier and tributaries, between 700 and 950 m above sea level. Eyries generally on pines, sometimes on firs. Usually nest areas are quiet.
Diet is based on few species: Elaphe longissima (chiefly), Vipera aspis (often), Anguis fragilis (especially during cool and rainy periods), sometimes Coronella. Lizards: Lacerta viridis and Podarcis muralis.
Nearest hunting ground: Slopes overgrazed by sheep, sparsely covered in broom (Genista purgens), with rocky outcrops.
Nearest hunting ground: Between the line of tall trees along a small brook (invisible), and the forest. At the foot of a slope. Sparse heath with few rocks.
Different videos of Short-toed Eagle are being uploaded to YouTube permanently. We told before about this resource and also we used it to insert videos into the site. As an example of the new accessions you can view this one. Watch please flying Short-toed Eagles on the background of the sea and see in detail their flight not for the hunt. Los Alcornocales Natural Park /map/.