Icthyophaga

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Genus of bird

title: "Icthyophaga" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["icthyophaga", "bird-genera", "accipitridae"] description: "Genus of bird" topic_path: "general/icthyophaga" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icthyophaga" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of bird ::

::callout[type=note] the fish eagle ::

| image = Lesser_fish_eagle_at_Ranganathittu,_India.jpg | image_caption = Fahad’s fish eagle (Icthyophaga humilis) | status = | taxon = Icthyophaga | authority = Lesson, 1843 | type_species = Falco ichthyaetus | type_species_authority = Horsfield, 1821 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text.

Icthyophaga (often misspelled as Ichthyophaga, which is a valid genus of flatworms) is a genus of six species of eagles, closely related to the sea eagles in the genus Haliaeetus. In fact, some taxonomic authorities place this genus within Haliaeetus. Both are native to southeastern Asia, from the Indian subcontinent southeast to Sulawesi. They are smaller than the Haliaeetus eagles, though overlapping in size with the smaller species of that genus. They share similar plumage, with grey heads grading into dull grey-brown wings and bodies, and white belly and legs. They differ in tail colour, with the lesser fish eagle having a brown tail, and the grey-headed fish eagle having a white tail with a black terminal band, and also in size, with the lesser fish eagle only about half of the weight of the grey-headed fish eagle.

Taxonomy

The genus was established by René-Primevère Lesson in 1843, to accommodate a single species, the grey-headed fish eagle, which is therefore considered as the type species. Lesson used two spellings for its name: Icthyophaga and Icthyiophaga, but not Ichthyophaga. Despite this, Erwin Stresemann and Dean Amadon mistakenly referred to this genus as Ichthyophaga in their work, and this erroneous usage persisted for a long time; the name Ichthyophaga actually belongs to an entirely different animal: a prolecithophoran turbellarian parasite of fish which was named by Syromjatnikova in 1949.

Traditionally, this genus was believed to include two species: the lesser fish eagle and the grey-headed fish eagle. In 2005, a molecular systematic study based on nuclear and mitochondrial genes merged this genus into Haliaeetus.

In 2023, based on latest molecular systematic studies, the International Ornithologists' Union resurrected Icthyophaga with its right name and transferred four species from Haliaeetus to this genus. Therefore, this genus now includes the following six species:

|name= White-bellied sea eagle|binomial=Icthyophaga leucogaster |image=File:Haliaeetus leucogaster - SE Tasmania 2019.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Gmelin, JF|authority-year= 1788 |authority-not-original=yes |range= India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia to Australia |range-image=File:Haliaeetus leucogaster distr.png |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies=

|name= Sanford's sea eagle |binomial=Icthyophaga sanfordi |image=|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Mayr |authority-year=1935 |authority-not-original=yes |range= |Solomon Islands |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= VU |population= |direction= |subspecies=

|name=African fish eagle |binomial=Icthyophaga vocifer |image=File:African fish eagle, Haliaeetus vocifer, at Chobe National Park, Botswana (33516612831).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Daudin |authority-year=1800 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Sub-Saharan Africa |range-image=File:Icthyophaga vocifer distribution map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies=

|name= Madagascar fish eagle|binomial=Icthyophaga vociferoides |image=File:Madagascan Fish Eagle - Ankarafantsika - Madagascar (15111026410) (2).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=des Murs |authority-year=1845 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Madagascar |range-image=File:Madagascar Fish Eagle.png |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= CR |population= |direction= |subspecies=

|name= Lesser fish eagle|binomial=Icthyophaga humilis |image=File:Lesser Fish Eagle. ADSCN7863.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Müller & Schlegel |authority-year=1841 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Kashmir through southeast India, Nepal, and Burma towards Indochina |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= NT |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on | H. h. plumbeus - (Jerdon, 1871) | H. h. humilis - (Müller, S & Schlegel, 1841)

|name=Grey-headed fish eagle |binomial=Icthyophaga ichthyaetus |image=File:Gray headed fish eagle.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Horsfield |authority-year=1821 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Southeast Asia |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= NT |population= |direction= |subspecies=

Ecology

As both the common and generic names suggest, both fish eagle and the grey-headed fish eagle feed largely on fish, caught mainly in fresh water on lakes and large rivers, but also occasionally in salt water in estuaries and along coasts.

References

References

  1. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' Vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona {{ISBN. 84-87334-15-6.
  2. Lesson, RP. (1843). "Index ornithologique". L'Écho du monde savant et l'Hermès: Journal analytique des nouvelles et des cours scientifiques.
  3. (1 August 2017). "An unnecessary replacement name for Ichthyophaga Syromiatnikova 1949 (Platyhelminthes: Prolecithophora) under Article 56.2; and an unnecessary emendation under Article 33.2.3 and the correct spelling of Icthyophaga Lesson 1843 (Aves: Accipitridae)". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature.
  4. Syromiatnikova, I.P.. (1949). "A new turbellarian parasitic in fish and called ''Ichthyophaga subcutanea''". Dokl Akad Nauk SSSR.
  5. (1994). "Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol. 2". Lynx Edicions.
  6. (2005). "Phylogeny of eagles, old world vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
  7. (2023). "IOC World Bird List (v 13.2)".

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icthyophagabird-generaaccipitridae