Lesser fish eagle

Lesser fish eagle
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Icthyophaga
Species:
I. humilis
Binomial name
Icthyophaga humilis
(Müller & Schlegel, 1841)
Subspecies[3]
  • H. h. plumbeus - (Jerdon, 1871)
  • H. h. humilis - (Müller, S & Schlegel, 1841)
Synonyms

Ichthyophaga humilis

the lesser fish eagle with fish kill

The lesser fish eagle (Icthyophaga humilis) is a species of Icthyophaga found in the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the foothills of the Himalayas, and south-east Asia. There are records from Gujarat, Central India and in more recent times from the Kaveri river valley in southern India, although the south Indian records are now thought to come from an isolated population, disjunct from the species' normal range.[4] Some taxonomic authorities place this species in the monotypic genus Icthyophaga. Others place it in the genus Haliaeetus.

Lesser fish eagles are fish-eating birds that have feet adapted to aid in gripping slippery fish. They have strongly curved talons,[5] and spicules along the underside of the birds' toes help to grip fish as they pull them from the water.[6]

There are two subspecies: Icthyophaga humilis humilis, which is native to the Malaysian Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi;[5] and Icthyophaga humilis plumbeus, which is native to Kashmir through southeast India, Nepal, and Burma towards Indochina.[5]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Ichthyophaga humilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
  4. ^ Ramarao, D.; Karuthedathu, D.; Mohanram K.; Prakash H. L.; Raju A. K.; Sreekumar H.; Kumar, S.; Das, V. (2011). "On the breeding of Lesser Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga humilis in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka" (PDF). Indian Birds. 7 (1): 9–13.
  5. ^ a b c "Lesser Fish Eagle: Ichthyophaga humilis". Global Raptor Information Network. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Lesser Fish Eagle (Icthyophaga humilis)". Planet of Birds. Retrieved 1 April 2014.