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White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) — photo 1 of 4
© Yathin S Krishnappa CC BY-SA 3.0

Hawks and eagles

White-tailed Eagle

Haliaeetus albicilla

Year-round

How to recognize it

  • Huge eagle, among Europe’s largest raptors; bulkier than Golden Eagle

  • Adult grey-brown overall with paler head and neck; clean white tail

  • Very broad wings, held nearly flat in flight, with deep fingered tips

  • Yellow bill and feet; juveniles dark brown with a greyish-white tail

About the species

The White-tailed Eagle gives the impression of a huge, calm hunter, with a heavy bill and a short wedge-shaped tail. Adults stand out by their pale head and neck against a brown body, and in flight the broad wings are held almost flat.

It often spends long hours perched and may seem in no hurry at all. In the breeding season it becomes more vocal, and pairs put on striking aerial displays, sometimes locking talons as they tumble together.

This eagle stays closely tied to water, using coasts, lakes, rivers, wetlands and broad floodplains. It feeds mainly on fish and other water-linked prey, but also takes carrion, and in colder months it shifts toward places where food is easiest to find.

Did you know?

  • Abandons the clutch after a visit

    Even a routine check of the clutch by a human often ends with the eagles abandoning the nest — that's how panicked their reaction to people can be.

  • Raids the Osprey's conspicuous nests

    The White-tailed Eagle holds an ecological niche close to the Osprey's and crowds out its weaker neighbour — raiding the Osprey's conspicuous nests.

  • Hounds other birds till they drop the fish

    The White-tailed Eagle turns pirate: it spots Ospreys, gulls and cormorants flying with a catch and harries them until they drop the fish, which it then collects.

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Sources