Grey-headed fish eagle

Grey-headed fish eagle

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Icthyophaga
Species:
I. ichthyaetus
Binomial name
Icthyophaga ichthyaetus
(Horsfield, 1821)
Synonyms
  • Haliaeetus ichthyaetus
  • Icthyophaga javana Lesson, 1843

The grey-headed fish eagle (Icthyophaga ichthyaetus) is a fish-eating bird of prey from South East Asia. It is a large stocky raptor with adults having dark brown upper body, grey head and lighter underbelly and white legs. Juveniles are paler with darker streaking. It is often confused with the lesser fish eagle (Icthyophaga humilis) and the Pallas's fish eagle. The lesser fish eagle is similar in plumage but smaller and the Pallas's fish eagle shares the same habitat and feeding behaviour but is larger with longer wings and darker underparts. Is often called tank eagle in Sri Lanka due to its fondness for irrigation tanks.

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