Grey-headed Fish Eagle
Icthyophaga ichthyaetus
The Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Icthyophaga ichthyaetus) is a uncommon kites, old world vultures, eagles, and hawk found in 13 countries, weighing about 1.6 kg. The grey-headed fish eagle is a fish-eating bird of prey from Southeast Asia.
About the Grey-headed Fish Eagle
The grey-headed fish eagle is a fish-eating bird of prey from Southeast 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 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.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
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.
Where it lives
When to see it
The Grey-headed Fish Eagle can be seen all year round, with peak activity in February. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Grey-headed Fish Eagle?
- 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. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Grey-headed Fish Eagle?
- The Grey-headed Fish Eagle is a huge sized bird weighing about 1.6 kg.
- Where can you see a Grey-headed Fish Eagle?
- The Grey-headed Fish Eagle occurs in 13 countries, including India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Cambodia.
- What birds look similar to a Grey-headed Fish Eagle?
- The Grey-headed Fish Eagle is most easily confused with the Lesser Fish Eagle.
- Is the Grey-headed Fish Eagle endangered?
- The Grey-headed Fish Eagle is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Grey-headed Fish Eagle for real
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