NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Madagascar Fish Eagle

Icthyophaga vociferoides (des Murs, 1845)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Madagascar Fish Eagle, Lake Ravelobe, Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar
Swarowski 80 HD 30 X, Coolpix P5100 (Adapter DCB)
The Madagascar Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides) is classified as "Critically Endangered". Its world population is estimated at around 120 breeding pairs (R. Watson in litt. 2010). The annual breeding success seems to be very low, but individual life expectancy is high.

Ankarafantsika National Park is a good place to see Madagascar Fish Eagles in the wild. There are several watchtowers around Lake Ravelobe and eagles can also be seen from the roadside. This pict — Madagascar Fish Eagle, Lake Ravelobe, Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar Swarowski 80 HD 30 X, Coolpix P5100 (Adapter DCB) The Madagascar Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides) is classified as "Critically Endangered". Its world population is estimated at around 120 breeding pairs (R. Watson in litt. 2010). The annual breeding success seems to be very low, but individual life expectancy is high. Ankarafantsika National Park is a good place to see Madagascar Fish Eagles in the wild. There are several watchtowers around Lake Ravelobe and eagles can also be seen from the roadside. This picture of a pair was taken in the evening, in bad light conditions.
Frank Vassen · CC BY 2.0 · Image source
Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Madagascar fish eagle (Icthyophaga vociferoides) or Madagascar sea-eagle (to distinguish it from the Icthyophaga fishing-eagles), is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. It is endemic to the coastal strip in the northwest of Madagascar. It is about 63 cm (25 in) long and has a pale brown head, dark brown body and white tail. The Madagascar fish eagle has been suffering from a declining population and is threatened by habitat destruction and persecution, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "critically endangered".

Wikipedia contributors, Madagascar fish eagle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:26:41.811651+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Icthyophaga vociferoides (des Murs, 1845)
Name authority: (des Murs, 1845)
Common name: Madagascar Fish Eagle
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Icthyophaga
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.

domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
subphylumVertebrata
infraphylumGnathostomata
parvphylumOsteichthyes
megaclassTetrapoda
classAves
orderAccipitriformes
familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
genusIcthyophaga R. P. Lesson, 1843
speciesIcthyophaga vociferoides (des Murs, 1845)

Close classified relatives

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

Species	Classification	Source status
Lesser Fish EagleIcthyophaga humilis (S. Müller & Schlegel, 1841)	AccipitridaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant
White-bellied Sea EagleIcthyophaga leucogaster (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)	AccipitridaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant
African Fish EagleIcthyophaga vocifer (Daudin, 1800)	AccipitridaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 170 records assigned to Accipitridae.

Names & synonyms

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

Recorded name	Source status
Haliaeetus vociferoides Des Murs, 1845 Des Murs, 1845	synonym

Documented distribution

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

Africa

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.

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1253658 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.

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:CV8KQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.