
Photo: avocat · CC-BY
Haliaeetus leucoryphus
Diet
Primarily large freshwater fish; also birds, especially waterfowl
Range
Breeds in Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan
Size
72–85cm
Wingspan
180–215cm
Weight
Some reported at 4–5.5kg
Pallas's fish eagle, also known as Pallas's sea eagle or the band-tailed fish eagle, is a large, brownish sea eagle 72–85cm long with a wingspan of 180–215cm. It has a light sandy-brown hood and whitish face, darker brown wings, a rufous back, and a black tail with a wide white stripe. The long, slender wings, unusually slender for a sea eagle, are rather dark brown underneath, and young birds show a white band on the underwing (Wikipedia, general species account).
It breeds in the east Palearctic in Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan, and is partially migratory, with Central Asian birds wintering with the southern Asian birds in northern India and farther afield. The diet is primarily large freshwater fish, though it seems broadly opportunistic like better-known sea eagles and regularly takes birds, especially waterfowl (Wikipedia, general species account).