We saw one gray-headed fish eagle in Bundala National Park in southern Sri Lanka. It was up in a tree surrounded by branches, so we didn't get a good look at it (or good photos). But I was struck by how many different variations of eagle there are in Sri Lanka. In the U.S. we have two, the bald eagle and the golden eagle. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen either and I've been in lots of national parks. In Sri Lanka we saw at least four kinds in a week, with multiples for several of them. The diversity is fascinating.
 |
| This photo is from Wikipedia, so you can see what they really look like. |
 |
| Here is one of my photos. It is a view from its back. |
The gray-headed fish eagle is widely distributed through India and southeast Asia, although uncommon. Adults are gray/brown with a pale gray head and pale iris. The breast and neck are brown with the wings on top a darker brown and blacker primaries. The belly and the tail are white with a broad black band across the end of the tail. It is listed as near-threatened on the IUCN Red List.
 |
| A cropped view. |
 |
| Another cropped view. |
I was also thinking about how many more colorful birds they have than we do. I would guess that is a function of the tropical landscape they live in. The bird diversity is wonderful in Sri Lanka.
ReplyDelete