Steller's Sea Eagle

Open encyclopedia reference

Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), also known as the Pacific sea eagle or white-shouldered eagle, is a very large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was described first by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. No subspecies are recognized. A sturdy eagle, it has dark brown plumage with white wings and tail, a yellow beak, and yellow talons. Typically, it is the heaviest eagle in the world, at about 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb), but in some other standard measurements, may be smaller than the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) and the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi). Steller's sea eagle females are bigger than males, as in other raptors. The Steller's sea eagle is endemic to coastal northeastern Asia, where it lives in Russia, Korea, Japan, and China. It mainly preys on fish and water birds. The Kamchatka Peninsula in Far Eastern Russia is known for its relatively large population of these birds; about 4,000 of these eagles live there.

Wikipedia contributors, Steller's sea eagle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:17:50.813519+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Haliaeetus pelagicus (Pallas, 1811)

Name authority

(Pallas, 1811)

Common name

Steller's Sea Eagle

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Accipitriformes

Family

Accipitridae

Genus

Haliaeetus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderAccipitriformes
10. familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
11. genusHaliaeetus Savigny, 1809
12. speciesHaliaeetus pelagicus (Pallas, 1811)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Haliaeetus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 170 records assigned to Accipitridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=175423 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3JBJZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.