The white-bellied sea-eagle (WBSE)also known as White-bellied fish eagle. It is a large diurnal bird of prey belonging to the family of Accipitridae. It is closely related to other eagles, kites, hawks, harriers and vultures (Rasmussen et al., 1987, Palei et al. 2022).
White-bellied Sea-Eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster) are distributed throughout coastal Southeast Asia, including India and Sri Lanka and extending up to the Andaman Islands and southern China, Wallacea, Sunda Islands (Indonesia), the Philippines, Papua New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago) to Australia (Kirwan et al. 2023, Amal et al. 2025).
Morphologically it can be described as, large sized raptor having wing span of around 180-220 cm, wedge shaped tail measuring around 75-85 cm in length. Adults have a dark head, rump, underparts and grey to black wings whereas juveniles are predominantly brown with pale cream streaks. They are monomorphic species; males can be called apart from females by their larger size.
WBSE prefer seacoasts, tidal creeks, estuaries, and occasionally inland tidal rivers and fresh water lakes for feeding, breeding and roosting (Ali & Ripley 1978, Palei et al. 2014). They for long tern monogamous pairs and prefer tall trees with higher girth for nesting (Neema et al. 2021). Nests are built near water, on trees, and cliffs or – in the absence of predators – on the ground. Casuarina equisetifolia along seacoast and Sterculia foetida, are been observed to act as ideal nesting sites for these birds. They only rarely are nests built on artificial structures (Cluine, 1994, Palei et al. 2014) although many records now prove that they use telecommunication towers as nesting spots. The presence of White-bellied Sea-Eagles is considered an indicator of a healthy coastline with abundant prey species (Palot 2000, Amal et al. 2025). Literary records from India indicate their presence in Bhitarkanika, Ratnagiri District of Konkan coast, Kerela, Andhra Pradesh, Konark-Balukhanda Wildlife Sanctuary (Rahamani and Nair, 2012), mostly found nesting along coastlines of these areas.
On 16th March, 2025, as a part of the Syncronised Tamil Nadu Census for terrestrial birds I visited Pudumadam. Pudumadam is a village located in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated near the old National Highway 49, which connects Kochi and Dhanushkodi, Pudumadam serves as a vital gateway to the picturesque Pamban Island. We walked along a transect of about 2 to 3 kms by foot on the road leading to Uchipuli. After walking for about 15mins I observed a big nest on a telecommunication pole. The pole was about 500 meters from where I stood. It was surrounded by paddy fields flooded with water as well as scattered Palm trees. After about a minute I observed two raptors’ head towards a small pound. They were hunting, one of them carried a fish in its beak, which for some reason it examined it but eventually discarded. After this they few over to their gigantic nest. The nest was massive, I wondered how difficult it was for them to built it. From the nest peacked a chick, the one that the two adults were caring for. Both the adults sat beside the nest.
Reference
Kirwan, G. M., S. Debus, and C. Hansasuta (2023). White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster), version 1.2. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, E. de Juana, and P. Pyle, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. doi:10.2173/ bow. wbseag1.01.2.
Palot, M. J. (2000). Habitat use of birds of north Malabar coast with special reference to the White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Calicut, Kerala, India.
Amal, Unni Krishnan, and Ramesh Roshnath. "Nesting Ecology of White-bellied Sea-Eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster) in Kerala, India." Journal of Raptor Research (2025).
Neema, Aditi S., B. Anjan Kumar Prusty, Nikunj B. Gajera, and Poonam N. Kurve. "Nesting site studies of the White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster Gmelin, 1788) along Konkan Coast, Dist. Ratnagiri, MS, India." Ecology, Environment and Conservation 27 (2021): 108-115.
Palei, Nimain C., S. R. Mishra, and H. K. Sahu. "White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) in Bhitarkanika National Park, Odisha, India." Cheetal 51 (2014): 28-37.
Rahmani, A.R. and Nair, M.V. 2012. Threatened Birds of Odisha. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, p. 196.
PALEI, NC, AK BAL, BP RATH, HB UDGATA, and SN ACHARYA. "Distribution and nesting records of white-bellied sea-eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster (Gmelin, 1788) in Balukhanda-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary, Puri." Editorial Board: 152.