Steller's sea eagle

참수리

A huge sea eagle with a dark body, white shoulders and a white wedge tail. Its bright yellow-orange bill is enormously deep. In winter some birds move to Hokkaido's coasts to catch fish.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Birds
Lives in: Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk coast
Diet: Fish eater
Weight: about 6.7 kg
Length: about 0.95 m
Conservation status: Vulnerable (IUCN VU)
Habitat: coasts, wetlands, forests

Quick answers

Where does the Steller's sea eagle live?

It lives in coasts, wetlands, forests of the Pacific Ocean. On the globe you can find it near Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk coast.

How big is the Steller's sea eagle?

It grows to about 0.95 m and 6.7 kg.

What does the Steller's sea eagle eat?

Its diet: fish eater.

Is the Steller's sea eagle endangered?

It is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN VU).

Steller's sea eagle is a huge bird of prey from the coasts of northeast Asia. It is dark brown with white shoulders and a white wedge-shaped tail, and it has a very big, bright yellow beak. It is usually counted as the heaviest eagle in the world, at about 5 to 10 kilograms, and its wings can span more than two metres.

It nests in Russia, and around 4,000 live on the Kamchatka Peninsula. In winter some move south to Korea, Japan and China. In Korean it is called chamsuri, meaning true eagle, and in South Korea it is protected as a natural monument. It mostly eats fish and water birds, and it is listed as vulnerable.

Where it lives

The eagle lives along coasts, rivers and lakes of the Russian Far East, including Kamchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk. In winter, birds move to the coasts of Hokkaido and other places in Japan and Korea, where they catch fish and sometimes feed on dead animals. They nest high in big trees or on cliffs near the sea.

Name and protection

The bird is named after the German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller. In Japanese it is called o-washi, the great eagle. Its numbers are threatened by habitat loss and pollution. In South Korea it is protected as Natural Monument No. 243-3 and listed as Class I endangered wildlife. Its numbers are threatened by loss of habitat and pollution, and about 4,000 of them live on Kamchatka alone. The bird feeds mostly on fish and water birds.

Fun facts

Many spend the winter on the drift ice off Hokkaido, Japan.
It is usually counted as the heaviest eagle in the world.
About 4,000 of these eagles live on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Its bright yellow beak is enormously deep.
The Korean name chamsuri means true eagle.

On the globe

On the toy globe Steller's sea eagle is placed on the coast of Kamchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk. Look for the white shoulders and the big yellow beak.