Grey-headed Fish Eagle vs Lesser Fish Eagle

Grey-headed Fish Eagle

Icthyophaga ichthyaetus

Huge1.6 kgWoodland

The grey-headed fish eagle is a smallish to medium-sized but quite bulky fish eagle, with a small bill, a small head on long neck, rounded tail and shortish legs with unfeathered tarsi and long talons. Wings are not very long and wingtips reach less than halfway down tail. Males and females are sexually dimorphic. The grey-headed fish eagle has a body length of 61–75 cm (24–30 in). Females are heavier than males at 2.3–2.7 kg (5.1–6.0 lb) compared to 1.6 kg (3.5 lb). The tail measures between 23–28 cm (9.1–11.0 in) and the tarsus 8.5–10 cm (3.3–3.9 in). Voice: The calls of the grey-headed fish eagle include a gurgling awh-awhr and chee-warr repeated 5–6 times, an owlish ooo-wok, ooo-wok, ooo-wok, a nasally honking uh-wuk and a loud high pitched scream. These begin as subdued low short notes each succeeding one more strongly upturned and more strident then previous then dying away again and are uttered from a perch or on the wing.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Mike Prince from Bangalore, India · CC BY 2.0

Lesser Fish Eagle

Icthyophaga humilis

Large782 gWetland

The lesser fish eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey that is primarily gray-brown in colour with broad, blunt wings and coarse featherless legs. They are smaller than the similar Icthyophaga ichthyaetus (grey-headed fish eagle) and may often get confused with the similar species. The lesser fish eagle has a brown breast with white thighs and belly. They have a short, rounded tail with a long neck and a small head. Juvenile lesser fish eagles are similar in appearance to adults, although they have brown eyes whereas an adult has yellow. Adults have a wingspan reaching 1.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Zac Peterson · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Grey-headed Fish Eagle and Lesser Fish Eagle.