Alternative names: White-bellied Fish Eagle; White-breasted Fish Eagle; White-breasted Sea Eagle
- Haliaeetus leucogaster
Identification
75-85cm
- White head, rump and underparts
- Dark grey upperparts
- Large, grey hooked bill with a darker tip
- Brown eye
- Creamy-white legs with long black talons
Sexes are similar. Males slightly smaller than females
Juveniles: brown, acquiring the complete adult plumage by their fourth year.
Distribution
Range: Southern Asia to Australasia.
Breeds coastally in much of India and from Burma and southern China south to Malaya and from the Philippines, Borneo and Sumatra east to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Australia.
Found around virtually the entire Australian coast including Tasmania and also occurs inland along larger rivers. Resident.
Taxonomy
Monotypic[1]
Habitat
Coasts, islands, estuaries and mangroves. In some areas inland along larger rivers and around large lakes.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes fish, turtles and sea snakes, birds and mammals. It also feeds on carrion such as sheep and fish along the waterline.
Breeding
Two to three eggs are laid in large stick tree nests.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Wikipedia
- BirdsinBackyards
