Ichthyophaga is a genus of two species of
eagleEagles are large birds of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa...
s, closely related to the
sea-eaglesA sea eagle is any of the birds of prey in the genus Haliaeetus in the bird of prey family Accipitridae....
in the genus
Haliaeetus. Both are native to southeastern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, from the
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
southeast to
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
. They are smaller than the
Haliaeetus eagles, though overlapping in size with the smaller species of that genus. They share similar plumage, with grey heads grading into dull grey-brown wings and bodies, and white belly and legs.
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Ichthyophaga is a genus of two species of
eagleEagles are large birds of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa...
s, closely related to the
sea-eaglesA sea eagle is any of the birds of prey in the genus Haliaeetus in the bird of prey family Accipitridae....
in the genus
Haliaeetus. Both are native to southeastern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, from the
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
southeast to
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
. They are smaller than the
Haliaeetus eagles, though overlapping in size with the smaller species of that genus. They share similar plumage, with grey heads grading into dull grey-brown wings and bodies, and white belly and legs. They differ in tail colour, with Lesser Fish-eagle having a brown tail, and Grey-headed Fish-eagle having a white tail with a black terminal band, and also in size, with Lesser Fish-eagle only about half of the weight of Grey-headed Fish-eagle.
Species
- Lesser Fish-eagle Ichthyophaga humilis
- Grey-headed Fish-eagle Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus
Ecology
As their names suggest, both species feed largely on
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
, caught mainly in
freshwaterFreshwater is naturally occurring water on the surface such as bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground in aquifers and underground rivers. Freshwater is characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts...
on lakes and large rivers, but also occasionally in
saltwaterSeawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%. This means that every of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts...
in estuaries and along coasts.