Lesser Fish Eagle

Information

The lesser fish eagle (Haliaeetus humilis) is a species of Haliaeetus 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. Some taxonomic authorities place this species in the monotypic genus Ichthyophaga. Others place it in the genus Haliaeetus.

Lesser fish eagles are fish-eating birds that have feet adapted to aid in gripping slippery fish. They have strongly curved talons, and spicules along the underside of the birds’ toes help to grip fish as they pull them from the water.

There are two subspecies: Haliaeetus humilis humilis, which is native to the Malaysian Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi; and Haliaeetus humilis plumbeus, which is native to Kashmir through southeast India, Nepal, and Burma towards Indochina.