Sanford's Sea Eagle

The Salomon Eagle ( Haliaeetus sanfordi ) is a large eagle is endemic to Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. The specific epithet honors Dr. Leonard Cutler Sanford, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History, who discovered the taxon during a South Seas expedition in the 1920s. 1935 Ernst Mayr wrote the first scientific description.

Features

The Salomon Eagle reaches a size of 64-90 cm and a weight of 2.3 to 2.5 kilograms. The wingspan is about 165 to 185 centimeters. The head and neck plumage is white brown light brown. At the bottom it is too reddish brown from brown to dark brown in color. The top has a dark brown to gray -black. The eyes are light brown.

Habitat

Its habitat are coastal forests at an altitude of 1350 m above sea level.

Reproduction

The breeding season is from August to October. The nest usually consists of two eggs.

Food

The Solomon Eagle is the only Seeadlerart that hunts its prey in the rainforest. The diet consists of fruit bats and couscous as well as fish (including carcasses of large fish and sharks ), mollusks, sea snakes, crabs and turtles.

Symbolic meaning

The Salomon eagle is often depicted on stamps of the Solomon Islands. At Santa Isabel, he is regarded as chief symbol and in Cheke Holo ( dialect of the locals on this island ), he is called Gaghata.