The nest is a large stick platform, varying greater in size based on available materials but averaging flatter than those of other Aquila eagles, excepting the tawny eagle. Most nests are around in diameter and around deep. Nests in the Transbaikal averaged across with nests located on cliffs or rocks getting larger at up to deep. In the Sarastov area, 14 nests measured on average in diameter by in depth, with ranges of and , respectively. Nests in Xinjiang could react diameters of as much as . The largest nest in the southern Aktobe region reached a diameter of ; while height of the nest could vary there from those in trees could reach up to . The nest is generally lined with twigs and much clutter. This is due to sparser nesting material in their habitat, so nest structures frequently include peculiar items: paper, polyethylene bags, pieces of wool and manure, bones, feathers, old rags and other human refuse. The nest is traditionally place in an exposed site among stones, often on a hummock. Other nesting sites can include very low bushes and a spot on the ground which is usually raised slightly above the mean layout of the environment. Some other nest sites are known have including haystacks or ruins for a slight prominence, also sometimes rarely on a non-steep cliff or in a tree. Although some older studies claimed that steppe eagles avoided nesting near human activity this has been largely disproven. In Kalmykia, all nests were only from paved roads. A nest in the West Kazakhstan Region was found to quite close to a village. However, in Transbaikal, the conversion of areas to farmland was a primary cause of a large population contraction there. Of 14 nests in Kalmykia, 10 were located on the ground and 4 were in trees or shrubs, not to mention some located on transmission towers at a mean nest height of . In Transbaikal, 53.7% of 47 nests were on hills. Those located on rocky outcrops in Transbaikal, averaged above the mean ground level. In the region of Lake Baskunchak, most of 16 nests found for the species were on rocky rubble and boulders, karst craters and cliffs, with two located on trees. In the Altai region, 62.4% of territories contained only one nest but 27.4% contained 1 alternate nests, 4.7% contained 2 alternate nests and 5.9% contained 3 alternate nests. A study in Altai determined that nests were often in virgin or fallow steppe near larch forests, and were often reused in subsequent years. The location of Altai nests were on gently sloping rocky outcrops, or cuesta escarpments, mostly, which were about 82% of known nest sites (with only 4% on flat ground) In the borderlands of Kazakhstan and Russia, of 418 total nests, 75.6% of nests were on ledges of rocks and boulders or quartz ridges and only 15.8% were on flat ground. Within the region of Atyrau in Kazakhstan, 26% of raptor nests located on electrical transmission towers (or pylons) were those of steppe eagles. 38% of nests in the Aral-Caspian region were either on pylons or at the base of them. In the Karaganda Region, 75.6% of nests were on outcrops and a further 10.84% were on rock disintegrations, and all nest sites had a rocky substrate (including a very small amount on low bushes as well). The Karaganda nests were at a mean elevation of . In the general West Kazakhstan Region, of 286 nests 30.42% were on ground or rocks, 28.32% in trees or bushes and27.27% on utility poles. The nests in the West Kazakh area that were on rocks and cliffs averaged above the ground, those on poles averaged above ground, in trees and those in bushes averaged above the ground. One nest near the Ili River was noted to be a small tree, Haloxylon, while another was a perhaps dangerously hot sandy dune. One successful nest near the Irtysh River was on the shrub Iberian meadowsweet (Spiraea hypericfolia) (while another unsuccessful one was on a thick growth of Lonicera tatarica). Another unusual Kazakh nest was on the ground with rather loamy grasslands that was probably unsafe due to excessive sun exposure (only blocked for 20% of the day) and a considerable local presence of red foxes. Of 49 nests found in Mongolia 47.8% were on the ground, 32.6% were on rock columns or large boulders, 8.7% on cliffs, 8.7% on artificial substrates, including a car tire, an abandoned car cabin and an artificial nest platform and 2.2% was in a tree. All Mongolian nest in this study were at elevations between , with a mean of . In Mongolia, the height of nests above the surrounding flat earth was .