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white-tailed sea eagle

bird
Also known as: Haliaeetus albicilla

Quick Summary

The white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is a large bird of prey with a short, white, wedge-shaped tail. Sea eagles, in general, are large, fish-eating eagles found near water bodies worldwide, except in South America. They possess large, high-arched beaks and rough toe undersurfaces for grasping slippery prey. While they consume carrion, they also hunt, often stealing food from ospreys.12

White-tailed sea eagles are native to Europe, southwestern Greenland, the Middle East, Russia, and China. Historically, they disappeared from the British Isles by 1918 and much of southern Europe by the 1950s. However, reintroduction programs have led to their return to Scotland and Ireland.2

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