Icthyophaga ichthyaetus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The grey-headed fish eagle (Icthyophaga ichthyaetus) is a fish-eating bird of prey from Southeast Asia. It is a large stocky raptor with adults having dark brown upper body, grey head and lighter underbelly and white legs. Juveniles are paler with darker streaking. It is often confused with the lesser fish eagle (Icthyophaga humilis) and the Pallas's fish eagle. The lesser fish eagle is similar in plumage but smaller and the Pallas's fish eagle shares the same habitat and feeding behaviour but is larger with longer wings and darker underparts. Is often called tank eagle in Sri Lanka due to its fondness for irrigation tanks.
The grey-headed fish eagle was first described by Horsfield in 1841 as Falco ichthyaetus. It is included in the order Accipitriformes and the family Accipitridae, which includes most birds of prey except for the ospreys and falcons. Lerner & Mindell placed the grey-headed fish eagle in the subfamily Haliaeetinae, which includes the genera Haliaeetus (sea eagles) This paraphyletic group forms a close sister relationship with the subfamily Milvinae, based on the shared trait of basal fusion of the second and third phalanges found only in these two groups... Wikipedia →
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Singapore · 2022
© Minder Singh · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Singapore · 2026
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India · 2026
© Nicki Brockamp · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 6 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 7 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 8 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 11 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 15 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 16 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 17 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 18 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 19 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Savar | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 2 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 3 | Dhaka | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 4 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chiang Mai Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife Center | 🇵🇭 Philippines |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Gray-headed Fish-Eagle sighting in Dhaka on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 92nd most-seen of the 185 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Gray-headed Fish-Eagle in Dhaka on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Dhaka's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 440 mm in July.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gray-headed Fish-Eagle sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Gray-headed Fish-Eagle sightings, Dhaka ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Savar (Bangladesh, about 20%) and Singapore (Singapore, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Gray-headed Fish-Eagle that you can see in Dhaka (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Black Kite (about 80%) and Brahminy Kite (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gray-headed Fish-Eagle is recorded against all the birds logged in Dhaka (54 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
