African Fish-Eagle: how to recognise it
A bird of Europe and Africa. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Alex Rebelo · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Icthyophaga vocifer
- Family
- Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
- Size
- About 70 cm
- Habitat
- Lakes, rivers, lagoons and coasts
- Found in
- Europe and Africa
The key marks
White head, chest and tail, chestnut belly and shoulders, and black wings; yellow bill. Bald Eagle has a dark brown body with only the head and tail white, and lives in North America.
Voice
A loud, ringing, yelling call, often given from a high perch.
Good to know
It snatches fish from the water surface with its talons, which have rough pads for gripping slippery prey.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Bald Eagle. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in lakes, rivers, lagoons and coasts. It is especially common in Kenya. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.