Lesser Fish Eagle

The lesser fish eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey, primarily grey-brown with broad, blunt wings and coarse, featherless legs; the feet are adapted for gripping slippery fish. It has a brown breast with white thighs and belly. Adults grow up to about 64 cm tall with a wingspan reaching 1.2 m, and it is smaller than the similar grey-headed fish eagle and often confused with it (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found in the Indian subcontinent, mainly in the foothills of the Himalaya, and in Southeast Asia, usually below 1,000 m though it has been reported as high as 2,400 m. There are records from Gujarat, central India and, more recently, the Kaveri valley in southern India, the latter now thought to be an isolated population. It feeds primarily on fish, which it snatches from the water while watching from a perch such as an overhanging tree or rock, and it has several regular perches. Two to four eggs are laid in a nest of sticks and green leaves. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident of wetland with a Moderate range and a stable long-term trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).