Grey-headed Fish Eagle
| Grey-headed Fish Eagle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| In Kazaringa, Assam, India | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Ichthyophaga |
| Species: | I. ichthyaetus |
| Binomial name | |
| Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus (Horsfield, 1821) |
|
The Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus) is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.
Grey-headed Fish Eagle breeds in southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Southeast asia. It is a forest bird which builds a stick nest in a tree near water and lays two to four eggs.
Grey-headed Fish Eagle is a largish stocky raptor at about 70–75 cm in length. Adults have dark brown wings and back, a grey head and reddish brown breast. The lower belly, thighs and tail are white, the latter having a black terminal band.
Sexes are similar, but young birds have a pale buff head, underparts and underwing, all with darker streaking.
Grey-headed Fish Eagle, as its English and scientific names suggest, is a specialist fish eater which hunts over lakes, lagoons and large rivers.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened
- Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
