The Steller's sea eagle is one of the largest and most beautiful birds in the world. Meeting him makes a much greater impression than meeting a white-tailed eagle or the symbol of the United States, the bald eagle. Therefore, careful treatment and protection of these birds, which are found only in our Far East, are very important.

The Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), also called Steller's sea eagle, is a rare bird of prey in the hawk family, found only in the Russian Far East. It is listed in the Red Books of Russia and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Appendix II to the international convention CITES, Appendix II of the Bonn Convention and the Annexes of bilateral agreements concluded by Russia with the USA, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the DPRK on the protection of migratory birds. About 10% of the population is located in protected areas, the most important of which are the Kronotsky, Magadansky, Komsomolsky nature reserves, the state reserves South Kamchatsky, Lake Udyl, the regional reserves Moroshechnaya River, Lake Kharchinskoye (Kamchatka). . In Kamchatka, the most promising is the creation of specially protected natural areas in the lower reaches of the river. Kamchatka and the river basin Cloudberry. Steller's sea eagles are kept in 20 zoos and nurseries around the world; successful breeding is known in the zoos of Moscow, Almaty, and Sapporo. The closest relatives of this aerial predator are the smaller white-tailed and bald eagles.

Habitat and range of the Steller's sea eagle

Inhabits the southern part of the Koryak Highlands (up to the middle reaches of the Apuki River), the valley of the river. Penzhiny, o. Karaginsky, all of Kamchatka, coastal areas of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk south to the lower reaches of the Amur, Shantar and Kuril Islands, the northern part of Sakhalin. Found and possibly breeds in Primorye. Feeding mainly on fish has determined the close connection of the Steller's sea eagle with the sea coasts, where this species inhabits tall coastal forests and cliffs, as a rule, no further than 50 - 80 km from the sea. Sometimes it nests near large rivers and lakes; along the Amur it is found up to the river. Gorin. For the winter, some eagles remain in nesting areas or roam within the nesting area, others migrate south to Primorye, North Korea and Japan.

Biology of the Steller's Sea Eagle

Among the birds of the Far East, the Steller's sea eagle has no equal in beauty and majesty. This relict predator is one of the largest birds of prey in Eurasia: total length 105-112 cm, wing length 57-68 cm, weight 7.5-9 kg. According to some reports, the weight of females can reach 12.7 kg. The Steller's sea eagle, with a wingspan of up to 2.5 m, is the largest Russian bird of prey, and the size of its nests is beyond any competition. The huge bright yellow beak, snow-white shoulders, legs and tail contrast sharply with the overall dark brown plumage of the body. Young Steller's sea eagle birds in their first annual plumage are uniformly brown with white feather bases. Males and females are colored identically, and the final plumage is donned at three years of age. Eagles form mating pairs at the age of 4, but successful reproduction is apparently possible no earlier than 7 years. The breeding season begins with mating games in February-March. The Steller's sea eagle nests in trees, high off the ground, for many years in a row in the same place. An old perennial nest was found in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which reached almost 2 m in height and 3 m in diameter! The eagles regularly used the nest from year to year, renovating and adding to it, until the stone birch tree on which this “airfield” was built cracked. Eagles make nests near sea coasts, but mainly in river valleys. The Steller's sea eagle usually lays two eggs in April-May, but of the two chicks that appear, most often only one young bird grows and flies. The Moscow Zoo noted a case in 1994 when a female laid 5 eggs. The disproportionately large beak and monstrous talons of the Steller's sea eagle are capable of inflicting a mortal wound on both deer and sheep, but they are designed specifically for catching and “cutting” salmon. Lifespan in nature is unknown; at the Sapporo Zoo, by 1993 the female had reached 43 years of age.

Number and threats to the population

In the world, in wintering grounds in 1986, according to experts, there were 7.5 thousand birds. Currently, the total number of the species is probably about 5 thousand individuals. In the largest Kamchatka population there are about 1.2-1.5 thousand pairs, on Sakhalin in 1990 the number was estimated at 460 individuals, and approximately 110 pairs nest, in the Amur region and on the Shantar Islands - 800-820 mature birds (310-320 pairs nest ). A high number of Steller's sea eagle is observed on the lakes in the lower reaches of the Amur, and in total, from 50 to 60 pairs of these birds nest in the Khabarovsk Territory. On the Kuril Islands, one nest is known on Onekotan. The highest density of nests is observed on the forested coast of Kamchatka. On the island arc of the Japanese Islands-Kuril Islands-Kamchatka, significantly more Steller's sea eagles winter than in the continental part of the range, and in Kamchatka and Hokkaido, up to 70% of the world population or more gathers. A certain relationship has been traced between the numbers of the Steller's sea eagle and the white-tailed eagle: in places where they live together, the numbers of the latter are almost always significantly lower. However, in areas where there are few Steller's sea eagle, for example, at the northern border of the range in the Koryak Highlands or in the interior parts of Kamchatka, the number of white-tailed eagle increases noticeably. High nest occupancy and fecundity are usually associated with successful wintering. After a difficult winter, up to 40% of pairs do not reproduce (usually 6-11%), clutch sizes are reduced and the proportion of unfertilized eggs increases (up to 20%). The most important limiting factor in Kamchatka is the shooting (capture) of eagles by hunters who want to protect the fur from being poisoned; sometimes birds fall into traps by accident; There are facts of sale of dead eagles for stuffed animals. In the north of Kamchatka, eagles are shot by reindeer herders who believe that the birds are killing (injuring) the fawns. On rivers close to highways and populated areas, the disturbance factor progresses, as a result of which clutches or downy chicks die from hypothermia and predation by black crows. There are known cases of bird death due to lack of food in winter. Due to recreational and economic pressure on the coasts of Sakhalin and some lakes in the lower Amur region (Kizi), the proportion of abandoned nesting sites has doubled. Consumption of fish poisoned by industrial wastewater in Primorye is causing concern. The population of the Steller's sea eagle is considered by experts to be small, relatively stable, with a tendency towards a gradual decline in numbers. The main factors detrimental to eagles are: pollution of habitats with industrial and domestic wastewater, a decrease in the food supply due to overfishing, deforestation, mining, shooting of birds by people, and even lead poisoning from eating shot in the remains of game shot by hunters (in Japan). The growth of mass unorganized tourism also threatens the original nesting sites of the Steller's sea eagle. There are known cases of destruction and falling of nests, as well as their destruction by terrestrial predators and humans.

Compiled by: Candidate of Biological Sciences P. O. Sharov, photo: P. O. Sharov

Other rare species of the Russian Far East

Sea eagle, Kamchatka eagle, Pacific eagle, all these are the names of the same bird - one of the heaviest eagles on Earth - the Steller's sea eagle. In addition to their large size, these birds are also distinguished by high intelligence for birds - they remember all their chicks throughout their lives and plan their hunt, calculating everything down to the smallest detail.

Steller's sea eagle in flight, Zolotoy Rog Bay, Vladivostok.

Steller's sea eagle on the ice of Zolotoy Rog Bay, Vladivostok, winter 2013.

Geography of residence

The Steller's sea eagle inhabits the Kamchatka Peninsula and the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. These birds are common in the southern part of the Koryak Highlands, in the valley of the Penzhina River. These birds can also be found along the lower reaches of the Amur, in the north of Sakhalin, on the Kuril Islands and in Korea. The Steller's sea eagle often flies to North America, Japan and northern China. However, outside the territory of Russia, the Pacific predator can only be found during winter migrations.

Birds nest only on the territory of the Russian Federation; seasonal migrations occur both individually and in small groups twice a year - from March to May and from the end of October. In the autumn-winter period, eagles live on the sea coasts and rarely fly into the taiga.

A Steller's sea eagle soars in the sky.
Steller's sea eagle dives.

Appearance

The largest of the eagles can reach a length of 115 cm, and the wing length varies between 57-69 cm, the wingspan is more than 250 cm. The weight of an adult depends on the sex, so the weight of a male is on average 7-7.5 kg, and females are 8 -9, some of the “girls” weighed over 12 kg.

The plumage colors of adults combine dark brown and white; less commonly, there are birds with a single-color dark brown plumage. Against the main dark background of the feathers, white spots on the wings and white tail spots stand out as bright spots; the bird’s forehead and the plumage of the legs are painted in the same color (the bird produces a kind of “white pants”). This outfit appears in birds at the age of 4-5 years.

The plumage of young Pacific eagles is a uniform brown color with light mottled spots.

The paws and beak of the bird stand out as a bright spot against the background of the plumage - they are bright yellow, sometimes even orange, at the end of the paws there are clearly visible powerful and strong black claws, with special spikes for holding prey.

There is no sexual dimorphism in plumage and is expressed only in the mass of the bird. Molting in eagles begins in mid-May and continues until early October. Small feathers are replaced simultaneously with large ones.

Steller's sea eagle in the sky.

Nutrition and behavior

For its habitat, the bird chooses lower river valleys with forests and rocky sea coasts; it can also settle on the coasts of large lakes, on islands and rocks in river valleys. These birds are not nocturnal predators; they are active only during the daytime.

Pacific eagles are not just predators, but gourmet gourmets - they feed only on live prey. The diet is dominated by large and medium-sized fish, they give the greatest preference to salmon fish, and the birds do not disdain mammals - hares, arctic foxes, small seals. Other fellow birds can also become prey for eagles; wood grouse, partridges, ducks and seagulls often catch the predator. Sometimes birds also eat marine invertebrates - crabs and mollusks. Carrion is extremely rare in the diet of birds.

These birds hunt like real aristocrats. At first, they soar majestically over the sea, looking for a victim, as soon as it is discovered, the bird quickly descends, snatches their waters and rushes away. The bird is capable of holding fish weighing 4 kg with its claws. An interesting fact is that due to its impressive size, eagles cannot dive; instead, it descends in a parabola, glides, turns over in the air, its fall can be compared to the flight of a fallen leaf. The eagle eats its prey without a trace; with its strong beak it breaks off both fins and bones.

Steller's sea eagle with prey.
Steller's sea eagle hunts fish.
A Steller's sea eagle "picks up" a fish thrown to it, Vladivostok.
A Steller's sea eagle caught a fish.

Large dimensions do not allow the bird to stay in the air for a long time; as a rule, the flight time does not exceed 30 minutes per day. This behavioral feature determines the bird’s place of residence along the sea coast in order to be able to get to food as quickly as possible.

Steller's sea eagles also have natural enemies - crows, sables and bears.

Reproduction

Steller's eagles become sexually mature only at 5-6 years of age; these are monogamous birds; they mate for life. However, despite monogamy, both females and males are characterized by “marital infidelity” (this feature was established thanks to DNA examination of chicks from neighboring nests - not only siblings, but also maternal half-chicks can be in the same nest).

After reaching breeding age, the bird builds a ritual nest in the fall, in which it will not nest. Mating games begin in mid-March, and clutches appear in the nest in April-May.

The eagles' nest is striking in its enormous size; it consists of large and heavy branches and is located on the top of trees or on the top of a cliff, sometimes at an altitude of about 120 meters. If the nest is built on a tree, then a trunk with a dead top is usually selected and used for no more than 8 years. Sometimes a pair has several nests at the same time, the distance between which can reach nine hundred meters. Every year the nest is repaired and in the end it can reach three meters in diameter and two meters in height; there are cases when, under its weight, the structure falls down along with the offspring.

The clutch of a Pacific eagle usually contains 1-3 whitish-green eggs; if the egg was destroyed at the beginning of the clutch, the bird will lay a new one. Only the female incubates the eggs and does not leave them for a minute; the male is responsible for feeding her during this period. Hatching lasts 35-36 days, at the end of May - June the chicks are born. The babies will stay near their parents for 2-2.5 months, and will fly out until the beginning of September. They will stay close to their parents for some time, but will soon leave them forever.

In order to feed their babies, parents need to bring medium-sized fish, up to 30 cm, to the nest 2-3 times a day. Eagles are very loving parents, they recognize their chicks after many years, and desperately protect their babies from predators, they can even chain a bear without fear .

Unfortunately, for various reasons, about 15% of eagles die in early childhood - nests are stolen by natural enemies, babies die from disease or hypothermia, or as a result of caism, when older chicks kill their brothers.

Steller's sea eagle resting on a tree.
Steller's sea eagle on a tree branch.
A Steller's sea eagle soars high in the sky in search of prey.
Steller's sea eagle on the snowy shore.
A Steller's sea eagle walks on the ice.

1. In medieval Japan, samurai hunted eagles to decorate their ceremonial clothing with their feathers.
2. The average life expectancy in the natural environment is 20 years; in captivity it is about 40; the record belongs to a bird from Korea - it lived in captivity for 54 years.
3. Currently, the bird population numbers about 7,500 individuals; the birds are listed in the International Red Book.

Steller's sea eagle or Pacific eagle (lat. Haliaeetus pelagicus) is the largest representative of its genus. The weight of adult birds reaches 9 kg with a body length of 112 cm and a wingspan of up to 2.45 m. These are beautiful, majestic predators that prefer to feed only on live prey. The least fortunate are salmon, because it is they that the eagle loves most of all other living creatures.

It also affects newborn seals, lying helplessly on ice floes like a ready-made snack on a tray. The Steller's sea eagle will not refuse hares, young sables and other small mammals. Sometimes it eats carrion, although it does not particularly honor it.

The hunt of the Pacific eagle is truly a majestic spectacle. A huge bird of prey first circles over the sea in search of prey, and then quickly descends, grabs it and flies away. Interestingly, the Steller's sea eagle never dives, since its impressive weight does not allow such a maneuver. Instead, it descends in a parabola, flipping and gliding through the air like a falling dead leaf.

Due to its large size, the Steller's sea eagle cannot stay in the air for long. Its active flight time does not exceed 25-27 minutes per day. That is why he settles near the sea, so that he can always quickly get to his prey. You can meet it on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, in the Koryak Highlands, on Sakhalin, as well as on the Kuril and Shantar Islands.

The Steller's sea eagle nests exclusively in Russia. But it can winter in Japan, Northern China and Northwestern America. In the cold season, it lives on the shores of the seas, and very rarely flies into the taiga.

Steller's sea eagles have a curious behavioral feature: although they form a pair for life, they can quite afford to go “to the left.” Moreover, both males and females were noticed in adultery. Scientists established this by analyzing the DNA of chicks from different nests. They discovered family ties between children of different parents. In addition, sometimes in the same nest there were not only siblings, but also half-brothers and sisters with different fathers.

However, eagles have always been and remain caring parents. They never forget their raised chicks and recognize them even after many years. They desperately protect their babies from predators and bring them food several times a day. But, unfortunately, about 15% of chicks still die for various reasons.

The enemies of Steller's sea eagles are crows, sables and bears. Moreover, the passion of the latter for destroying nests is completely incomprehensible. Can a couple of eaglets satisfy a huge bear? In addition, you have to climb to the very tops of trees to get them, losing a lot of energy, which is not replenished by such meager prey.

In the past, Japanese samurai also hunted Steller's sea eagles to decorate their war arrows with their tail feathers. Today, hunting has long been prohibited, but this does not stop some enterprising businessmen from catching and selling these delightful birds on the “black” market.

In total, there are about 7.5 thousand Steller's sea eagles in the world. They are listed in the international IUCN Red Book and in the Red Book of Russia.

Steller's sea eagle(Steller's sea eagle - Steller's eagle) is one of the largest and most beautiful birds in the world, the largest representative of the order Falconiformes. Its wingspan averages about 2.5 meters, the record being 2 meters 83 centimeters. The mass of these feathered giants reaches 9 kg. It is one of the ten largest predators in the world along with the black vulture, Philippine eagle (monkey-eater), Australian wedge-tailed eagle and condor.

The naturalist of the First Kamchatka Expedition, Georg Steller, was the first to tell Europe about the “variegated magpie-colored eagle.” Since then, in many countries, the Steller's sea eagle has been known as Steller's sea eagle. But in fact, eagles are not eagles. By their nature, they are fishermen and scavengers rather than active predators, which is immediately noticeable by the structure of their paws. While real eagles are “dressed” in luxurious pants made of thick feathers almost to their claws, eagles have bare legs, because they constantly have to dip them in water. In addition, almost all eagles are larger than eagles. Their feeding method is apparently greater. promotes growth than the active life of a real predator - for example, a golden eagle.

The Steller's sea eagle nests only in our country - in the Far East. This rare bird is listed in the Red Books of Russia and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Today, the number of Steller's sea eagles has stabilized at about 7,500 birds, most of them live in Kamchatka. In addition, Steller's sea eagles are kept in 20 zoos and nurseries around the world; successful breeding is known in the zoos of Moscow, Almaty, and Sapporo.

The huge bright yellow beak, snow-white shoulders, legs and tail contrast sharply with the overall dark brown plumage of the body. By the way, only adults have white shoulders - they appear by the age of 5, and young birds have a dark, uniform color. The closest relatives of the Steller's sea eagle are the smaller white-tailed and bald eagles (the latter is a symbol of the United States and is depicted on the coat of arms of this country).

The entire life of the Steller's sea eagle is closely connected with water, so about 90% of its nests are located no further than 0.5 km from the shore. The nests of these feathered predators are simply huge: their diameter is on average 1.6 m, and their height reaches up to a meter. Eagles build them high in trees, and on rocks near the sea and return to them year after year.

While the female incubates the clutch, she does not leave the nest. There are usually 1-2 eggs in a clutch. After the chicks are born, the behavior of the parents changes. They now spend little time in the nest, which is not surprising: after the chicks hatch, the entire life of Steller's sea eagles is subordinated to the very difficult task of feeding the impressively sized “chicks.” From 6-7 o’clock in the morning until 21-22 o’clock in the evening, parents work to provide food for the younger generation.

Mom and Dad take turns hunting and guarding the nest. When hunting, birds circle over a pond, and when they find a fish, they quickly descend and try to grab the prey. Often, an eagle, keen on hunting, plunges into the water in pursuit of fish, but then easily takes off from the surface of the reservoir. If the prey is caught, the eagle immediately flies to the nest.

Steller's sea eagles can also become robbers, attacking weaker fishermen, such as white-tailed eagles, and robbing them of their prey.

The fish menu of feathered predators includes salmon, carp, crucian carp, catfish, kaluga, killer whale, whitefish, chum salmon, chebak and, of course, pike. But they can also diversify their diet with bird meat - ducks, black-headed gulls, terns and even crows. Sometimes eagles catch a hare or a muskrat. They do not disdain carrion or fishing waste.

The autumn migration of Steller's sea eagles in the Lower Amur region begins in September. But not all birds fly to wintering grounds, which are located in Southern Primorye, Korea and Japan. Some eagles winter near their nesting sites. In order to survive the harsh Far Eastern winter, eagles must eat well. This is only possible in places where the river flow carries “dead” chum salmon and pink salmon to ice holes that don’t freeze all winter. Several dozen eagles can spend the winter at some large spawning grounds. If bad weather happens, frost covers the wormwood, or the river stops bringing fish, the eagles will die from lack of food. Unfortunately, some of these beautiful birds still die at the hands of poachers. Giant birds have no other enemies in nature.

It is interesting that residents of Vladivostok can observe this majestic feathered predator right within the city limits in winter.

Russian Geographical Society; Text: Irina Yatskevich; Photos: Sergey Gorshkov