Icthyophaga ichthyaetus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 →
Recording0:10
Singapore · 2022
© Minder Singh · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:28
Singapore · 2026
© bluebottle77 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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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 |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Gray-headed Fish-Eagle sighting in Wilpattu National Park on a given day, based on 218 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 39th most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Gray-headed Fish-Eagle in Wilpattu National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May, the lowest month. That is one of Wilpattu National Park's wettest months, with about 320 mm of rain against 40 mm in February.
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.
2nd of 19
Of the 19 parks where we can rate Gray-headed Fish-Eagle sightings, Wilpattu National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Kaziranga National Park (India, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Gray-headed Fish-Eagle that you can see in Wilpattu National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Crested Serpent Eagle (about 70%), Brahminy Kite (about 60%) and Crested Hawk-Eagle (about 50%), 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 Wilpattu National Park (218 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
