Rare eagle from Asia mysteriously found thousands of miles away in New England
A rare sea eagle from Asia was mysteriously found thousands of miles away from its home in New England.
With a wingspan up to 8 feet wide, the Steller’s sea eagle can weigh a whopping 20 pounds, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.
The bird was seen in a tree along the Taunton River in Massachusetts last week, the organization said in a Dec. 20 Facebook post sharing the photo of the raptor with its big yellow beak and white wing markings on its mostly brown body.
It certainly flew a far journey from the Asian continent as the sea eagle is particularly found in China, Eastern Russia, Japan and Korea, according to the Smithsonian magazine.
The winged creature was photographed 3 miles away from the river in another tree underneath a bald eagle — America’s national bird — by Facebook user Jeff Blanchard, who commented on the state wildlife organization’s post.
The sea eagle was first seen on Dec. 12 by someone watching bald eagles, Andrew Vitz, a state ornithologist for the wildlife agency, told McClatchy News via email. It was observed throughout the day on Dec. 20.
“This is likely the same eagle that was observed in Alaska and Canada,” the organization noted, adding that it’s “one of the largest raptors in the world.”
The sea eagle was first seen in the U.S. on Alaska’s Denali highway in August 2020, the Smithsonian magazine reported, before another sighting way eastward in New Brunswick and Quebec, Canada in July 2021.
It even made a journey south to Texas, according to CBC.
“The bird would have flown from its nesting grounds in Russia to Alaska first and then made its way east,” Vitz said.
Before it’s rare appearance in Massachusetts, the bird was seen most recently on North America’s east coast Nov. 3 in Nova Scotia, Canada, the New York Times reported.
For comparison, the sea eagle is slightly larger than the bald eagle that can weigh up to 14 pounds, according to National Geographic. However, the bald eagle’s wingspan can reach the same length of up to eight feet.
The Steller’s sea eagle is certainly lost in its “vagrancy,” the Smithsonian magazine explains, meaning that it has strayed away from its typical navigational pattern that could be because of weather impacts such as strong winds.
It’s thought that the sea eagle’s breeding grounds are located on the coasts of eastern Russia as well as its islands, according to National Geographic, and that they can head southward to Japan or Korea.
“The climate and habitat in New England is not so different from that in their typical wintering range,” Vitz explained. “The eagle appears to be healthy and doing fine, just really lost.”
The one spotted in Massachusetts seems to be making its way around North America.
“This bird represents a new species record for Massachusetts,” according to Vitz.
“The Steller’s Sea Eagle is a close relative to the Bald Eagle, and it is possible this bird could pair with a Bald Eagle and attempt to nest in Massachusetts or another state or province along the Atlantic Coast.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 8:36 AM with the headline "Rare eagle from Asia mysteriously found thousands of miles away in New England."
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