Haliaeetus sanfordi

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Orthokaryota
Cladus: Neokaryota
Cladus: Scotokaryota
Cladus: Podiata
Cladus: Amorphea
Cladus: Obazoa
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Cladus: Filozoa
Cladus: Choanozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: ParaHoxozoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Olfactores
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Cladus: Eugnathostomata
Cladus: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Cladus: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Sauropsida
Cladus: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Neodiapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Cladus: Archelosauria
Cladus: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crocopoda
Cladus: Archosauriformes
Cladus: Eucrocopoda
Cladus: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Cladus: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Subclassis: Aves
Infraclassis: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Accipitriformes

Familia: Accipitridae
Subfamilia: Haliaeetinae
Genus: Haliaeetus
Species: Haliaeetus sanfordi
Name

Haliaeetus sanfordi Mayr, 1935
References

American Museum Novitates no. 820: 1.
IUCN: Haliaeetus sanfordi (Vulnerable)

Vernacular names
brezhoneg: Morerer Sanford
català: Pigarg de les Salomó
čeština: Orel Sanfordův
Cymraeg: Eryr môr Sanford
Deutsch: Salomonenseeadler
English: Sanford's Sea Eagle
Esperanto: Sanforda maraglo
español: Pigargo de las Salomón
فارسی: عقاب دریایی سانفورد
suomi: Ruskomerikotka
français: Pygargue de Sanford
עברית: עיטם איי שלמה
magyar: Salamon-szigeteki rétisas
кырык мары: Соломон колгучкыж
Nederlands: Sanfords zeearend
polski: Bielik melanezyjski
shqip: Shqiponja e Detit të Salomoneve
svenska: salomonhavsörn
Tiếng Việt: Đại bàng biển Sanford
中文: 所罗门群岛海雕

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.[4] 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.[3] 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.[5][page needed][6] Both share a dark bill, talons, and eyes with the other Gondwanan sea eagles.
Description

It can reach a length of 70–90 cm (28–35 in) and a weight between 1.1 and 2.7 kg (2.4 and 6.0 lb). Its wingspan is 165–185 cm (5.41–6.07 ft). 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.[4]

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.[4][7] It has also been reported to feed opportunistically on the northern common cuscus.[8]
In culture

The eagle is often illustrated on postage stamps of the Solomon Islands.
Footnotes
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haliaeetus sanfordi.
Wikispecies has information related to Haliaeetus sanfordi.

IUCN Red List 2012.
"Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
Mayr, E (1936). "Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. 31, Descriptions of twenty-five species and subspecies". American Museum Novitates (828): 1–20. hdl:2246/3965.
del Hoyo, Elliott & Sargatal 1994, p. 121.
Wink, Heidrich & Fentzloff 1996.
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.

Heinsohn 2000, pp. 245–246.

References

BirdLife International (2012). "Haliaeetus sanfordi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
"Species factsheet: Sanford's Sea-eagle Haliaeetus sanfordi". birdlife.org. BirdLife International. 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-25.

Cited works

del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-87334-15-6.
Heinsohn, Tom (2000). "Predation by the White-breasted Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster on phalangerid possums in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea". Emu. 100 (3): 245–46. doi:10.1071/MU00913.
Wink, M.; Heidrich, P.; Fentzloff, C. (1996). "A mtDNA phylogeny of sea eagles (genus Haliaeetus) based on nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b gene" (PDF). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 24 (7–8): 783–791. doi:10.1016/S0305-1978(96)00049-X.