Indian Spotted Eagle

Updated: April 15, 2025. 

My post below is about the Indian spotted eagle I saw in Keoladeo NP in India with a guide, Ashok, who had been guiding there for over ten years. However, I just learned, on iNaturalist, that it was likely a tawny eagle. p-alves, the top identifier of tawny eagles on iNaturalist with 1,022 observations, indicated that it was a tawny eagle because of its heavy and long bill. I think I agree with him and he certainly has viewed lots of them. I've previously seen the tawny eagle in Hwange NP in Zimbabwe and did a post on it on July 8, 2018. An illustration of how iNaturalist is more exacting than eBird and how even very good and long-time birders can be wrong. 

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In Keoladeo NP our guide, Ashok, identified an Indian spotted eagle. It was quite a ways away and my photos are not the best, but when I submitted it to iNaturalist "Indian spotted eagle" was not among the eight options listed. I had to type it in to the identification line and, so far, no one else has weighed in on the identification. I'm sticking with the identification because Ashok has been at Keoladeo ten years and appears to know the place. These are my photos:

Birds of the World only lists 12,381 observations and 4,954 photos. Under diet and foraging, Birds of the World notes that in a nest near Bharatpur, northern India (where Keoladeo NP is), prey items consisted of 17 mammals, 12 birds, 6 reptiles and 1 amphibian. There is also a video on Birds of the World from Bharatpur. This confirms they are found near Keoladeo and the range map, below is consistent with that. Wikipedia notes that after three or four months young eagles are glossy brown with the tips of the head and neck feathers being creamy and giving a spotted appearance. I'm finding that photos are highly variable and I'm not finding anything that really confirms or disconfirms it as such. We'll go with it for now. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of adult flying from Birds of the World.

Illustration of juvenile flying from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World.