White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
About the White-bellied Sea Eagle
The white-bellied sea eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related to Sanford's sea eagle of the Solomon Islands, and the two are considered a superspecies. A distinctive bird, the adult white-bellied sea eagle has a white head, breast, under-wing coverts and tail. The upper parts are grey and the black under-wing flight feathers contrast with the white coverts. The tail is short and wedge-shaped as in all Haliaeetinae species. Like many raptors, the female is larger than the male, and can measure up to 90 cm (35 in) long with a wingspan of up to 2.2 m (7.2 ft), and weigh 4.5 kg (9.9 lb). Immature birds have brown plumage, which is gradually replaced by white until the age of five or six years. The call is a loud goose-like honking.
A real field recording of the White-bellied Sea Eagle. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.
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Our streaming copies are mirrored from the original xeno-canto file and transcoded to 96 kbps mono — a modification, so we note it here; the licence for each recording is named in its credit below.
1 recording on this page · licensed CC BY-SA ×1 · mirrored on this server, free for commercial reuse · recorded in Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and elsewhere · xeno-canto lists 54 recordings for this species in total.
Similar species
- African Fish EagleHaliaeetus vociferprofile
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalusrecording
- Grey-headed Fish EagleHaliaeetus ichthyaetusprofile
- Lesser Fish EagleHaliaeetus humilisprofile
- Pallas's Fish EagleHaliaeetus leucoryphusprofile
- Sanford's Sea EagleHaliaeetus sanfordiprofile
Species grouped by shared genus, family and range.