The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sea eagle \Sea" ea"gle\
(Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of fish-eating eagles of the genus Hali[ae]etus and allied genera, as the North Pacific sea eagle ( H. pelagicus), which has white shoulders, head, rump, and tail; the European white-tailed eagle ( H. albicilla); and the Indian white-tailed sea eagle, or fishing eagle ( Polioa["e]tus ichthya["e]tus). The bald eagle and the osprey are also sometimes classed as sea eagles.
(Zo["o]l.) The eagle ray. See under Ray.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 An eagle with a distinctive white tail; specifically, the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''). 2 A genus of eagles (genus ''Haliaeetus''). n. 1 An eagle with a distinctive white tail; specifically, the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''). 2 A genus of eagles (genus ''Haliaeetus'').
WordNet
n. large harmless hawk found worldwide that feeds on fish and builds a bulky nest often occupied for years [syn: osprey, fish hawk, fish eagle, Pandion haliaetus]
any of various large eagles that usually feed on fish
Wikipedia
The BAe Sea Eagle is a medium weight sea-skimming anti-ship missile designed and build by BAe Dynamics (now MBDA). It is designed to sink or disable ships up to the size of aircraft carriers in the face of jamming and other countermeasures including decoys. Its users include the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Force, and the Indian Navy.
A sea eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus Haliaeetus in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.
Sea eagles vary in size, from Sanford's sea eagle, averaging 2.0–2.7 kg, to the huge Steller's sea eagle, weighing up to 9 kg. At up to 6.9 kg, the white-tailed eagle is the largest eagle in Europe. Bald eagles can weigh up to 7.5 kg, making them the largest eagle native to North America. The white-bellied sea eagle can weigh up to 3.4 kg. Their diets consist mainly of fish and small mammals.
The eight living species are:
- White-bellied sea eagle (H. leucogaster)
- Sanford's sea eagle (H. sanfordi)
- African fish eagle (H. vocifer)
- Madagascan fish eagle (H. vociferoides)
- Pallas's fish eagle (H. leucoryphus)
- White-tailed eagle (H. albicilla)
- Bald eagle (H. leucocephalus)
- Steller's sea eagle (H. pelagicus)
Their tails are entirely white in adult Haliaeetus species except Sanford's, white-bellied, and Pallas's. Three species pairs exist: white-tailed and bald eagles, Sanford's and white-bellied sea eagles and the African and Madagascan fish eagles, each of these consists of a white- and a tan-headed species.
Haliaeetus is possibly one of the oldest genera of living birds. A distal left tarsometatarsus (DPC 1652) recovered from early Oligocene deposits of Fayyum, Egypt ( Jebel Qatrani Formation, about 33 Mya) is similar in general pattern and some details to that of a modern sea eagle. The genus was present in the middle Miocene (12-16 Mya) with certainty.
Their closest relatives are the fishing eagles in the genus Ichthyophaga, very similar to the tropical Haliaeetus species. The relationships to other genera in the family are less clear; they have long been considered closer to the genus Milvus (kites) than to the true eagles in the genus Aquila on the basis of their morphology and display behaviour, more recent genetic evidence agrees with this, but points to them being related to the genus Buteo (buzzards/hawks), as well, a relationship not previously thought close.
The origin of the sea eagles and fishing eagles is probably in the general area of the Bay of Bengal. During the Eocene/ Oligocene, as the Indian subcontinent slowly collided with Eurasia, this was a vast expanse of fairly shallow ocean; the initial sea eagle divergence seems to have resulted in the four tropical (and Southern Hemisphere subtropical) species found around the Indian Ocean today. The Central Asian Pallas's sea eagle's relationships to the other taxa is more obscure; it seems closer to the three Holarctic species which evolved later and may be an early offshoot of this northward expansion; it does not have the hefty yellow bill of the northern forms, retaining a smaller, darker beak like the tropical species.
The rate of molecular evolution in Haliaeetus is fairly slow, as is to be expected in long-lived birds which take years to successfully reproduce. In the mtDNA cytochrome b gene, a mutation rate of 0.5–0.7% per million years (if assuming an Early Miocene divergence) or maybe as little as 0.25–0.3% per million years (for a Late Eocene divergence) has been shown.
A 2005 molecular study found that the genus is paraphyletic and subsumes Ichthyophaga, the species diverging into a temperate and tropical group.
Sea eagle mainly refers to sea eagles, birds of prey of the genus Haliaeetus.
It may also refer to:
Usage examples of "sea eagle".
He climbed out onto a flat platform of rock and fell into his combat pose, erect, arms braced, fingers half clenched like the talons of a sea eagle, teeth bared between snarling lips.
Because of the ceremony he wore a headdress made from tail feathers of the black sea eagle instead of his usual broad-brimmed leather hat.
Lord Celtigar had many fine wines that now I am not tasting, a sea eagle he had trained to fly from the wrist, and a magic horn to summon krakens from the deep.