The steppe eagle, like most raptors, breeds in pairs. Otherwise, it displays a preference for solitude whilst summering on the steppe. Like other Aquila eagles, this species may engage in a territorial aerial display. The display of the steppe eagle is not well-known but can be assumed to resemble that of sympatric eagles and is known to include high circling (but perhaps less aerial acrobatics than other Aquila). In Kalmykia, the mean number of pairs per was 1.7. The steppe eagle is rare in the Saratov area, with peak areas such as Alexandrovo-Gaysky District, Novouzensky District, Saint Petersburg and Ozinsky District hold a mean of about 3 pairs per while elsewhere in Saratov, the mean number of pairs per that area is about 0.8. Nearest neighbor distance in Transbaikal averaged . 85 nests in the Altai foothills were found to distanced at a mean of although not all of the nests were occupied. In the Ukok Plateau (within the Altais), the mean nearest neighbor distance was found to be , ranging from . Another study of the Altai found that there were about 0.51 to 3.11 pairs per with a number of successful pairs of 0.35-1.35 per this area, and further more found that Khakassia and Krasnoyarsk Krai contained higher nesting densities but that the Tvya Republic contained lowered densities. This study found that in Altai that the mean nearest neighbor distance was on average , ranging from . In the borderlands between Kazakhstan and Russia, i.e. Aktobe and Orenburg, there was an estimated 7.1 pairs per . In the southern part of the Aktobe region, such as between Bayganin District and Miyaly, the density of nesting steppes can occasionally reach as high as 2-2.5 pairs per . In the Atyrau Region of Kazakhstan, nests on utility towers were spaced at a mean of around as opposed to around apart on other nesting substrates. In the Aral and Caspian areas of Kazakhstan, the mean nearest neighbor distance was but the density of breeding pairs varied more than 50 fold based on habitat, with locally cliff habitat being the least productive and clay semi-desert the most productive. Within the Karaganda Region, the mean number of pairs per was 7.67 while the numbers of successful pairs per such an area was 3.24. In Xinjiang, home ranges were found to range in size from . The breeding season falls from late March or early April (occasionally not starting in earnest until late April) to roughly late August, although several steppe eagles can remain on their breeding grounds until at least October.