Sanford's sea eagle (''Haliaeetus sanfordi''), also known as Sanford's fish eagle or the Solomon eagle, is a

sea eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...

endemic to the

Solomon Islands archipelago The Solomon Islands (archipelago) is an island group in the western South Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. The archipelago is in the Melanesian subregion and bioregion of Oceania and forms the eastern boundary of the Solomon Sea ...

Taxonomy

Sanford's sea eagle was discovered by and named after Dr Leonard C. Sanford, a trustee for the American Museum of Natural History. The first description was by Ernst Mayr in 1935. The "sea eagle" name is used to distinguish the species of the genus '' Haliaeetus'' from the closely related '' Ichthyophaga'' true fish eagles. The species was described in 1935 by Ernst Mayr who noticed that earlier observers had overlooked it, thinking it was a juvenile of the white-bellied sea eagle. It forms a superspecies with the white-bellied sea eagle. As in other sea eagle species pairs, the other taxon is white-headed. These two are genetically very close, it seems; their lineages separated not longer than 1 million years ago, probably only in the Middle Pleistocene, a few 100,000 years ago. Both share a dark

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

, talons, and eyes with the other Gondwanan sea eagles.

Description

It can reach a length of and a weight between . Its wingspan is . It is the only large predator on the Solomon Islands. The eagles inhabit coastal forests and lakes up to an altitude of about 1500 m above sea level. Their plumage is whitish brown to bright brown on the head and the neck. The underparts are brown to reddish brown and dark brown. The upperparts are darkish brown to gray-black. The eyes are bright brown. Uniquely among sea eagles, this species has an entirely dark tail throughout its life.

Breeding

The breeding season is from August to October. The nest consists of two eggs.

Diet

The diet consists of mainly of tideline carrion, fish, molluscs, crabs, tortoises, and

sea snake Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are elapid snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae. Hydrophiinae also includes Australasian terrestrial snakes, w ...

s, and more rarely birds and megabats snatched from the rainforest canopy.Mikula, P., Morelli, F., Lučan, R. K., Jones, D. N., & Tryjanowski, P. (2016). Bats as prey of diurnal birds: a global perspective. Mammal Review. It has also been reported to feed opportunistically on the

northern common cuscus The northern common cuscus (''Phalanger orientalis''), also known as the gray cuscus, is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae native to northern New Guinea and adjacent smaller islands, but is now also found in the Bismarck Archipel ...

In culture

The eagle is often illustrated on postage stamps of the Solomon Islands.

Footnotes

; References * * ; Cited works * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q936424

Sanford's sea eagle Sanford's sea eagle (''Haliaeetus sanfordi''), also known as Sanford's fish eagle or the Solomon eagle, is a sea eagle endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago. Taxonomy Sanford's sea eagle was discovered by and named after Dr Leonard C. Sa ...

Endemic birds of the Solomon Islands Birds of prey of Oceania