White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) 21 February 2019. Betsukai--Notsuke Peninsula--north
end, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan
![]() ![]() These are adults showing the pale frosty fringing. Immatures are much darker, almost black. This species replaces the familiar Bald Eagle of North America in Eurasia. Like the Bald Eagle, it prefers coasts and seas. The World population in 2008 stood at only 9,000-11,000 pairs but that number has nearly doubled in the last decade. They disappeared from much of Europe primarily because of pesticide contamination and hunting under misguided efforts of "predator control." With protection they have largely recovered and are now listed as "least concern" by IUCN. Canon PowerShot SX60. References: BirdLife International 2016. Haliaeetus albicilla. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22695137A93491570. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695137A93491570.en. Downloaded on 18 May 2019. Orta, J., Kirwan, G.M., Christie, D.A., Boesman, P. & Marks, J.S. (2019). White-tailed Sea-eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52986 on 18 May 2019). |