The Lesser Spotted Eagle prefers the edge of forests in both lowlands and mountains. It migrates between August and November and again in March and April, which is when it appears in Wadi Faynan. Many of the empires that have held sway over Jordan and the southern Levant throughout history have used the eagle as a symbol.

It can be found on most of the coinage from the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt during the Hellenistic period around 2,100 years ago. This kingdom controlled much of the southern Levant, up to the modern border between Jordan and Syria, and was established by Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. The eagle became a symbol of Ptolemaic royalty and power and it was even rumoured that Ptolemy himself had been raised by eagles.