The Madagascar fish eagle (''Icthyophaga vociferoides'') or Madagascar sea-eagle (to distinguish it from the ''Ichthyophaga'' fishing-eagles), is a large

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

in the family

Accipitridae The Accipitridae () is one of the four families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds of prey with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects ...

which also includes many other diurnal

raptor Raptor(s) or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of avian and non-avian dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunt ...

s such as

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Easte ...

s and harriers. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the coastal strip in the northwest of Madagascar. It is about long and has a pale brown head, dark brown body and white tail. The Madagascar fish eagle has been suffering from a declining population and is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and persecution, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated its conservation status as being "

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

Description

The Madagascar fish eagle is a medium-sized

sea eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Ten extant species exist, currently described w ...

, long and with a wingspan of . The body and wings are dark brown, with a pale brown head and a white tail; the bill is blackish with a paler base, and the legs are pale grey. Males weigh , while the slightly larger females weigh . Its closest relative is the

African fish eagle The African fish eagle (''Icthyophaga vocifer'') or the African sea eagle is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, ...

, ''Icthyophaga vocifer''. Together, they form a distinct

species pair In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

lineage of sea-eagles, which separated soon after the divergence of the genus; they retain the ancestral dark beak, talon, and eye, but unlike ''Haliaeetus'' species, they always have at least partially white tails, even while juvenile. As in other sea-eagle species pairs, one species (the Madagascan fish eagle in this case) has a tan head, while the other has a white one. The Madagascar Fish Eagle is also known to exhibit polyandrous breeding behavior, where a single female mates with two males. A study conducted in the Tsimembo-Manambolomaty Protected Area recorded multiple polyandrous pairs, which showed higher reproductive success compared to monogamous pairs (Razafimanjato et al., 2018).

Distribution

This

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

is endemic to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, where it survives in low numbers along the northwest coast north of

Morondava Morondava (, from "long coast") is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morondava River at . Its population as of the 2018 census, was 53,510. Population The predominant ...

. The range of this eagle is within the

Madagascar dry deciduous forests The Madagascar dry deciduous forests represent a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, tropical dry forest ecoregion situated in the western and northern part of Madagascar. The area has high numbers of Endemism, endemic plant and anima ...

. The principal locus of population according to the United Nations Environmental Programme is in the Analova region; 20 to 25 breeding pairs were there as of the 1980s. A more recent survey by Garbutt and Hogan report a smaller concentration of at least three breeding pairs in the

Anjajavy Forest The Anjajavy's Protected area, Protected Area is located on a peninsula of the town of Antonibe, in the Analalava District, district of Analalava and in the north-west region of Madagascar. It is part of the Sofia region of the independent province ...

along the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, where several streams discharge north of Anjajavy Village.

Status

Total population estimates from the United Nations and from Grambo Rebecca L. Grambo, "Eagles" (1.000.000.00bc) Published by Voyageur Press, Inc. place the world population of this species at about 40 breeding pairs; according to Grambo this bird may be one of the rarest birds on Earth. Other surveys between 1991 and 1995 recorded at least 222 adults from 105 sites, with an estimated 98 breeding pairs. The main threats to its breeding habitat are

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

and the development of wetland areas for rice paddies. It is also in direct competition with humans for fish stocks. Because of its decline in numbers and the threats it faces, the

has assessed the bird's conservation status as being "

Gallery

Image:Madagascarfisheagle.jpg, At Tsimbazaza Zoo,

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

Image:Madagascar fish-eagle haliaeetus vociferoides.jpg, ''Haliaeetus vociferoides'' in the

Footnotes

* ; Cited works * {{Authority control Madagascar fish eagle Endemic birds of Madagascar Endemic fauna of Madagascar Birds of prey of Madagascar Critically endangered fauna of Africa Madagascar fish eagle Eagles