White-bellied Sea Eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Icthyophaga leucogaster (Gmelin, JF, 1788)

200 cmWingspan

This large raptor has a white head, breast and belly with black wings, showing a sharp black-and-white contrast in flight.

Most records: Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Head, tail, breast and belly white
  2. Back and wings black or dark gray
  3. Tail short and wedge-shaped
  4. Bill gray, with a darker tip

Male, female and young

Sexes similar, female slightly larger; juvenile has rufous feathers that gradually turn white with age as adult plumage develops.

Voice

Loud, goose-like quacking calls, heard more often in the breeding season.

Where and when it's recorded

White-bellied Sea Eagle has been recorded at 632 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 17 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

AustraliaSingaporeSri LankaMalaysiaIndiaChinaThailandIndonesia

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 white-bellied sea eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related to Sanford's sea eagle of the Solomon Islands, and the two are considered a superspecies.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

Where does the White-bellied Sea Eagle live?

Its breeding range: Oriental, Australasia: India to eastern China, Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and satellites, Australia (except central), Tasmania and Bismarck Archipelago. It is most often recorded in Australia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

What family is the White-bellied Sea Eagle in?

It belongs to the family Kites, Hawks, Eagles (Accipitridae), order Accipitriformes.

At a glance

Wingspan
200 cm

Range

Oriental, Australasia: India to eastern China, Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and satellites, Australia (except central), Tasmania and Bismarck Archipelago

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Family
Kites, Hawks, Eagles Accipitridae
Genus
Icthyophaga

Other birds in the genus Icthyophaga

African Fish EagleAfrican Fish EagleIcthyophaga vociferMadagascar Fish EagleMadagascar Fish EagleIcthyophaga vociferoidesSanford's Sea EagleSanford's Sea EagleIcthyophaga sanfordiLesser Fish EagleLesser Fish EagleIcthyophaga humilisGrey-headed Fish EagleGrey-headed Fish EagleIcthyophaga ichthyaetusPearl KitePearl KiteGampsonyx swainsoniiScissor-tailed KiteScissor-tailed KiteChelictinia riocouriiWhite-tailed KiteWhite-tailed KiteElanus leucurusBlack-winged KiteBlack-winged KiteElanus caeruleusBlack-shouldered KiteBlack-shouldered KiteElanus axillaris
White-bellied Sea Eagle

Download illustration

Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by David Wesolowski. ↗

WebP · 1070 px

Heard it but can't see it? Mingji identifies birds by sound and photo, on your phone.

In other languages