Steller's Sea Eagle

Encyclopedia : S : ST : STE : Steller's Sea Eagle

The Steller's Sea Eagle, (Haliaeetus pelagicus) is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers.This is the third largest eagle in the world, as it is 86.5-91.5 cm long and with a wingspan of 203-241 cm.

This bird breeds on the Kamchatka peninsula, the coastal area around the Sea of Okhotsk, the lower reaches of the Amur river and on northern Sakhalin and Shantar, Russia. The majority of birds winter further south, in the southern Kuril islands and Hokkaido, Japan.

Contents

1 Build
2 Food
3 Reproduction
4 Literature
5 References
6 External links

Build

This species wingspan can exceed 2m. These animals reach a length of 85 to 105 cm. While females reach weights from 6.8 to 9 kg, males are considerably lighter with a weight range from 4.9 to 6 kg. Stellers' Sea Eagle is the biggest bird in the Gender Haliaeetus and is one of the largest raptors overall.

This species is classified as Vulnerable. The main threats to its survival are habitat alteration, industrial pollution and over-fishing. The current population is estimated at 5,000 and decreasing.

Image:StellersSeaEagle.jpg Image:Stellers Seeadler.jpg

Food

This species mainly feeds on fish, especially salmon. Besides this, it also preys on water dwelling birds, mammals and carrion.

Reproduction

This eagle builds several aeries (height x width 150 cm ; ø 250 cm) high up on trees and rock. It is possible that the eagles change occasionally between these nests. After courtship, which usually occurs between February and March, the animals lay their first white-green eggs around April to May. Usually only one chick survives. After an incubation period of around 39 - 45 days the chicks hatch, having ash grey to white down. As young birds the down changes to brown feathers. At an age of around ten weeks, the young birds learn to fly, while they reach sexual maturity at around four to five years. Only at the age from eight to ten years a Steller's Sea Eagle is wearing full adult plumage.

Literature

Leslie Hilton Brown: Eagles of the world. David & Charles, Newton Abbot 1976. ISBN 0-715-37269-6
James Ferguson-Lees, David A. Christie & Kim Franklin: Raptors of the world. Helm, London, Princeton 2005. ISBN 0-713-66957-8
Dan True: Family of eagles. Everest, New York 1980. ISBN 0-896-96078-1

References

BirdLife International (2004). [Haliaeetus pelagicus]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable, and the criteria used

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.