Sanford's sea eagle
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Sanford's sea eagle (Icthyophaga sanfordi), also known as Sanford's fish eagle or the Solomon eagle, is a sea eagle endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago.
Taxonomy
Sanford's sea eagle was discovered by and named after Dr Leonard C. Sanford, a trustee for the American Museum of Natural History. The first description was by Ernst Mayr in 1935. The "sea eagle" name is used to distinguish the species of the genus Haliaeetus from the closely related Ichthyophaga true fish eagles.Template:Sfn The species was described in 1935 by Ernst Mayr who noticed that earlier observers had overlooked it, thinking it was a juvenile of the white-bellied sea eagle.[1] It forms a superspecies with the white-bellied sea eagle. As in other sea eagle species pairs, the other taxon is white-headed. These two are genetically very close, it seems; their lineages separated not longer than 1 million years ago, probably only in the Middle Pleistocene, a few 100,000 years ago.Template:SfnScript error: No such module "Unsubst".[2] Both share a dark bill, talons, and eyes with the other Gondwanan sea eagles.
Description
It can reach a length of Script error: No such module "convert". and a weight between Script error: No such module "convert".. Its wingspan is Script error: No such module "convert".. It is the only large predator on the Solomon Islands. The eagles inhabit coastal forests and lakes up to an altitude of about 1500 m above sea level.Template:Sfn
Their plumage is whitish brown to bright brown on the head and the neck. The underparts are brown to reddish brown and dark brown. The upperparts are darkish brown to gray-black. The eyes are bright brown. Uniquely among sea eagles, this species has an entirely dark tail throughout its life.
Breeding
The breeding season is from August to October. The nest consists of two eggs.
Diet
The diet consists of mainly of tideline carrion, fish, molluscs, crabs, tortoises, and sea snakes, and more rarely birds and megabats snatched from the rainforest canopy.Template:Sfn[3] It has also been reported to feed opportunistically on the northern common cuscus.Template:Sfn
In culture
The eagle is often illustrated on postage stamps of the Solomon Islands.
Footnotes
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- ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ Note that Wink et al.'s reservation about the high rate of molecular evolution have proven well justified; the 2% per 4 million years seem if anything an overestimate. In addition, as the provenance of specimens is not noted, genetic introgression due to hybridzation cannot be excluded, as the species' ranges touch. This is unlikely due to marked differences in behavior and habitat preferences however.
- ↑ Mikula, P., Morelli, F., Lučan, R. K., Jones, D. N., & Tryjanowski, P. (2016). Bats as prey of diurnal birds: a global perspective. Mammal Review.
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- References
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- Cited works
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