Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Haliaeetus ("Sea Eagle") leucocephalus ("white headed")

Adult Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Portage, Alaska, USA - August 2025

Featured Subspecies: Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus
Weight: 3-6.6kg  /  Length: 70-102cm  /  Wingspan: 1.8-2.3m
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

One of the most recognisable bird species on the planet, in large part due to it being the national bird of the USA and featured prominantly on a lot of it's iconography.  The bird itself however is perhaps less of an apex predator than it's hype would have you believe - a rather opportunistic feeder that will often feed on carrion or even landfill. A conservation success story - by the mid 20th century there were only 412 nesting pair in the Lower 48 as a result of shooting, pesticides such as DDT and other human caused deaths. With conservation measures, there are now believe to be over 71000 nesting pairs in the same area..

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Haliaeetus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

CANADA -Present everywhere but the High Tundra
  - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: - Seen in Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon

UNITED STATES - Found throughout most of the Lower 48 and Alaska
 - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: Seen in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Alaska

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus ichthyaetus)

OTHER NAMES: Grey-headed Fishing Eagle, Greater Fishing Eagle
Latin Etymology: Haliaeetus ("sea-eagle") ichthyaetus ("fish eagle")

Adult Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus icthyaetus) at Prek Toal, Cambodia - February 2019

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 1.6-2.3kg  /  Length: 61-75cm  /  Wingspan: 155-170cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

The Grey-headed Fish Eagle is a widely distributed but somewhat scarce resident of Southern Asia - in most places it hasn't adapted as well to human encroachment as well as it's cousin the white-bellied, but still is fairly widespread.  In Cambodia, we saw several at very close range at Prek Toal within the fish-rich wetlands, but even even bustling Singapore I got a brief view of one hunting at Sungeih Buloh.

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Haliaeetus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

CAMBODIA -  Khmer: អកត្រីក្បាលប្រផេះ ("Grey ?")

 A scarce, localised resident.

 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: Twos seen at Prek Toal

SINGAPORE - A scarce resident.

 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: One bird seen fleetingly at Sungei Buloh

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)

OTHER NAMES: White-Bellied Fish Eagle, White-breasted Fish Eagle

Latin Etymology: Haliaeetus ("Sea Eagle") leucogaster ("white abdomen")

Adult White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore - February 2019

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 4.5kg  /  Length: 75-85cm  /  Wingspan: 2.2m
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The White-Bellied Sea Eagle was actually one of the very first bird species I encountered on the Malaysia/Singapore trip - on the night we arrived I spent about 30 minutes standing in the driveway just to see what would turn up, and a pair of these huge birds circled high overhead.  This is perhaps indicative of something I haven't really encountered in other eagles - the are far happier to live near humans than all the other species.  Unlike the other species I have encountered, I found them right in the middle of Cities - either flying over Central Singapore or a family perched right in the middle of central Malacca. The bird pictured is a juvenile, and so lacks the distinctive mostly white plumage of the adults, which I did see (indeed, on the same perch) but more more distantly at the time.

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Haliaeetus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

MALAYSIA - Malay - Helang Siput ("Snail Eagle")

A locally common resident on the coast.

 - MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE 2016 TRIP: At least three seen in Central Malacca

SINGAPORE - A fairly common resident.

 - MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE 2016 TRIP: Two birds seen circling high above Lower Peirce Reservoir.
 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: Several seen at Gardens by the Bay

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

Steller's Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus)

OTHER NAMES: Steller's Fish Eagle, Pacific Sea Eagle, White-shouldered Eagle

Latin Etymology: Haliaeetus ("sea-eagle") pelagicus ("marine/pelagic")

Adult Steller's Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) from Akan Crane Centre, Hokkaido, Japan - December 2014

Featured Subspecies: N/A

Weight: 5-9kg  /  Length: 85-100cm  /  Wingspan: 200-250cm

NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

If, when I had started this blog you had asked me if I could see any bird in the world at all, the Steller's Sea Eagle would have quite possibly been my answer.  It is, in my opinion at least, just about the most spectacular bird on the planet.  It is enormous, with that wingspan that can reach 2.5m wide.  The beak is enormous and bright yellow and there are prominent white panels on the wings make it distinct from it's relations the Bald and White-tailed eagles.  Hokkaido is pretty much the only plausible place to go see them, and in certain locations (unfortunately beyond where we went on this trip) they can be seen in huge numbers at close range in towns where they live off fishing cast offs.

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Haliaeetus
Subspecies: None - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

JAPAN - Japanese: オオワシ / O-washi ("Great Eagle")   ///  Ainu:  Kapacchilikamui ("God-spirit of the Eagles")

Locally Common Visitor to Hokkaido, rare vagrant in the rest of Japan

 - TOKYO/HOKKAIDO 2014 TRIP: Two seen distantly from Akan Crane Centre in early December.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

OTHER NAMES: White-Tailed Sea Eagle, Erne

Latin Etymology: Haliaeetus ("Sea Eagle") albicilla ("white tail")

Adult White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) from Akan Crane Centre, Hokkaido, Japan - December 2014

Featured Subspecies: N/A

Weight: 3-7kg  /  Length: 70-90cm  /  Wingspan: 1.78-2.45m

UK RED LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The largest of all raptors found in the UK, I must admit somewhat cheating and finally caught up with this species on the other side of the world in Hokkaido.  This was however, not my first attempt to see this species - several years ago I spend a day walking round a field near Basingstoke of all places looking for a vagrant bird that had been staying there for a while (just my luck, after being there for a while I arrived the day it left).  In Britain this species went extinct early in the 20th Century and was only restored later by a reintroduction program in 1975 on the Isle of Rum in Scotland and has subsequently expanded its range.  Seeing it in Hokkaido as an affix to a trip to Tokyo is actually probably easier and cheaper than seeing them as a trip in the UK - I saw these eagles on over half the days we were in Hokkaido, though unfortunately the closest views of down to 10m were through dusty windows on a moving train in the mist - hardly ideal for photographs!

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Haliaeetus
Subspecies: None - Monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

JAPAN - Japanese - オジロワシ  /  O-jiro washi  ("White-tailed Eagle")  ///   Ainu - Onneu ("Old and Large One")

Locally fairly common resident to Hokkaido.

 - TOKYO/HOKKAIDO 2014 TRIP: Seen from various locations including Akan Crane Centre, Akkeshi and Kushiro Airport in early December.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto  .