Bird Album
Lesser Fish Eagle
Icthyophaga humilis (Müller, S & Schlegel, 1841)
≈58 cmLength782 gWeight
It often watches from a high perch beside water, striking with its claws when it spots a fish.
Busiest months: March · Most records: Malaysia, India, Thailand
How to identify
Field marks
- Breast brown; belly and thigh feathers white
- Tail short and rounded
- Neck long, head small
- Wings broad, with blunt tips
Male, female and young
Juvenile resembles adult, but has brown eyes; adult eyes yellow.
Where and when it's recorded
Lesser Fish Eagle has been recorded at 96 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 6 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Corbett NP – DhikalaIndia609 records
- Kinabatangan River – SukauMalaysia336 records
- Danum Valley Borneo Rainforest LodgeMalaysia307 records
More places
- Corbett NPIndia253 records
- Earth Lodge, Ulu MudaMalaysia190 records
- Taman Negara NP Kuala TahanMalaysia154 records
- Menanggol RiverMalaysia112 records
- Kinabatangan Wildlife SanctuaryMalaysia111 records
- Kinabatangan River – Sukau Rainforest LodgeMalaysia105 records
- Sri Phang-nga NPThailand98 records
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The lesser fish eagle (Icthyophaga humilis) is a species of Icthyophaga found in the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the foothills of the Himalayas, and south-east Asia. There are records from Gujarat, Central India and in more recent times from the Kaveri river valley in southern India, although the south Indian records are now thought to come from an isolated population, disjunct from the species' normal range.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Lesser Fish Eagle?
The Lesser Fish Eagle is about ≈58 cm long and weighs around 782 g.
Where does the Lesser Fish Eagle live?
Its breeding range: Oriental, Australasia: Himalayas to Vietnam, Sulawesi and west-central Moluccas. It is most often recorded in Malaysia, India and Thailand.
When is the best time to see the Lesser Fish Eagle?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in March (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Lesser Fish Eagle endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Lesser Fish Eagle as Near Threatened.
What does the Lesser Fish Eagle eat?
Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.
What family is the Lesser Fish Eagle in?
It belongs to the family Kites, Hawks, Eagles (Accipitridae), order Accipitriformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈58 cm
- Weight
- 782 g
- Habitat
- Wetland
- Diet
- Fish, shrimp & shellfish
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Near Threatened
More measurements
- Wing
- 353 mm
- Tail
- 183 mm
- Bill
- 50 mm
- Tarsus
- 63 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Oriental, Australasia: Himalayas to Vietnam, Sulawesi and west-central Moluccas
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Subspecies · 1
- Icthyophaga humilis plumbea Himalayas to s China and n Indochina
Classification
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Kites, Hawks, Eagles Accipitridae
- Genus
- Icthyophaga
Other birds in the genus Icthyophaga
African Fish EagleIcthyophaga vocifer
Madagascar Fish EagleIcthyophaga vociferoides
White-bellied Sea EagleIcthyophaga leucogaster
Sanford's Sea EagleIcthyophaga sanfordi
Grey-headed Fish EagleIcthyophaga ichthyaetus
Pearl KiteGampsonyx swainsonii
Scissor-tailed KiteChelictinia riocourii
White-tailed KiteElanus leucurus
Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus
Black-shouldered KiteElanus axillaris
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by chinotto_chena. ↗
Heard it but can't see it? Mingji identifies birds by sound and photo, on your phone.