Falco leucogaster Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 1, 257.
Haliaetus leucogaster Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 307.
Haliaëtus leucogaster Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 267; Oates,
Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 279; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 43.
Ma-na-ol', Ticao, Manila.
Bantayan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Basilan (Bourns & Worcester,
McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns
& Worcester); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu
(McGregor); East Bolod (Mearns); Fuga (Whitehead); Luzon (Bourns
& Worcester); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao
(Steere Exp.); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter);
Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White); Romblon
(Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester,
Whitehead); Semirara (McGregor & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns &
Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Bourns
& Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Tawi Tawi
(Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor); Y'Ami
(McGregor). Indian Peninsula; Indo-Chinese Provinces; Malay
Peninsula to Australia and Oceania.
Adult.--Entire head, neck, and lower parts white, many of the feathers
with blackish shafts; tail blackish, its terminal third white;
primaries blackish with white bases; axillars and wing-lining white;
remainder of wings and upper parts bluish slate-gray, with a slight
mixture of brown. Male from Ticao: Iris dark; bill at base and cere
horn-blue; bill at tip and nails black; legs and toes white. Length,
685; wing, 550; tail, 230; culmen from base, 52; tarsus, 91. The
female is said to be slightly larger.
Young.--Head, chin, and throat buffy or pale yellowish white, more
or less streaked with light brown; general color brown, darker above,
many of the feathers with lighter brown or whitish shaft-lines which
widen at the tips; primaries black with whitish bases; end of tail
brown, basal two-thirds white mottled with brown.
The white-breasted sea eagle is widely distributed but nowhere in the
Philippines is it abundant. In adult plumage it is easily identified
by its white under parts. Its nest consists of a mass of sticks and
is usually supported by the branches of some large tree. Islets on
which there are but a few trees are in particular favor with this
species. The eggs are usually spheroidal and white with a few faint
markings of reddish brown.
"Common along the seashore. Frequently seen perching on the fish
pens of the natives, where it secures abundant food." (Bourns and
Worcester MS.)
Genus HALIASTUR Selby, 1840.
Bill moderate, compressed, with a long overhanging tip; culmen well
curved, cutting edge slightly sinuate; wings long, extending beyond
tip of tail; inner webs of primaries abruptly cut; tail nearly square;
tarsus feathered in front for about half its length, the lower half
with large transverse plates, its sides and back with variously shaped
scales; claws strong and well curved.