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White-tailed Eagle

Haliaeetus albicillaOrder: FALCONIFORMESFamily: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

White-tailed Eagle Portrait
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General

White-tailed Eagle: Fourth largest eagle in the world, has a dark brown body, brown and white streaked head, neck, and breast with a white tail. Bill, legs, and feet are yellow and eyes are medium brown. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is dark brown with variable mottling on wings and tail.

Range and Habitat

White-tailed Eagle: Native of Eurasia and Greenland, is sometimes seen on the Aleutian Island Attu. Prefers rocky coasts and rivers along the forest edge.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"krick-krick-krick-krick", "grah-grah-grah"

Interesting Facts

  • The White-tailed Eagle is considered a close cousin of the American Bald Eagle and occupies the same ecological niche in Eurasia. Some individuals have been found to live over 25 years.
  • They have a characteristic aerial courtship display which culminates in the pair locking claws mid-air and whirling earthwards in a series of spectacular cartwheels.
  • Nests are often reused, sometimes for decades by successive generations of birds; one nest in Iceland has been in use for over 150 years.
  • A group of eagles has many collective nouns, including an "aerie", "convocation", "jubilee", "soar", and "tower" of eagles.


Author

Jane Wright Splitbar
Range Map for White-tailed Eagle
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Haliaeetus albicilla
Length31 - 40 Inches
Wingspan6 - 8 Inches

White-tailed Eagle

White-tailed Eagle: Fourth largest eagle in the world, has a dark brown body, brown and white streaked head, neck, and breast with a white tail. The bill, legs, and feet are yellow and eyes are medium brown. Heavy flight with strong, deep, steady wing beats alternating with glides. Soars on thermals.

● Song: "krick-krick-krick-krick", "grah-grah-grah"

● Foraging & Feeding: White-tailed Eagle: Eats fish, young gulls, ducks, guillemots, alcids, seals, rabbits, rodents, and carrion. Will steal food from gulls.

● Breeding & nesting: White-tailed Eagle: Builds a nest of sticks, grass, seaweed and bones of prey high in a tree or on a rocky ledge. One to three dull white eggs incubated by female 35 to 45 days. Young are fed by both sexes. One brood per year.

● Similar species: White-tailed Eagle: Bald Eagle has white undertail coverts and white head. Steller's Sea-Eagle is larger with yellow-orange bill.

Flight Pattern

Strong, deep, steady wing beats, sometimes alternates with glides.
White-tailed Eagle Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: White-tailed Eagle: Native of Eurasia and Greenland, is sometimes seen on the Aleutian Island Attu. Prefers rocky coasts and rivers along the forest edge.
BreedingMonogamous, Thought to pair for life
PopulationDeclining
MigrationMost do not migrate
Weight140.8 Ounces