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Fact File:

  • Wingspan: 2.00 - 2.45 m(6' 6" - 8'} Length: 70cm - 92cm (28" - 36")
  • Weight: 3.1kg - 7kg (6lb 4oz - 15lb)
  • Lifespan: up to 20 years
  • Status: Rare

  • Did you know?
    White tailed sea eagles were persecuted to extinction (by poisoning, shooting and changes to nesting sites) in the UK but a reintroduction of Norwegian birds into Scotland (on the Isle of Rum) in 1968 has proved very successful and there are now breeding pairs on the islands and mainland.

  • Nest: An enormous nest (can be over a metre across) is made of branches and twigs on a cliff ledge or in a large tree. These birds pair for life and often use the same nest for many years.

  • Voice: These birds are mostly silent except during the breeding season when loud, rather hoarse screeches can be heard (the female voice is deeper than the male!) The contact call consists of 15 - 30 notes increasing in speed and rising in pitch 'krick-rick-rick-rick'. The alarm call at the nest is 'klee klee klee'.

  • Food: A wide variety of food is taken live or as carrion. These birds will hunt for food from a branch or by foraging on the wing. They will take fish near the surface in calm waters grasping the prey with their talons. They rarely dive for food. They also eat small animals taking the sick and feeble or feeding from a carcass they have spotted from the air.

  • Breeding: Maturity and full adult plumage is reached at 5 years although juveniles are sometimes seen paired and nest building. In early spring display flights can be seen above their territory with the two birds often flying very close together at a heights of no more than 200 metres and performing various ceremonies including stooping towards one another. Usually 2 eggs are laid at an interval of 2 - 5 days in March/April and incubation starts with the first egg. Both parents take part although the female does most of the incubation. The eggs hatch at intervals after a period of 34 - 42 days. For the first two weeks after hatching one of the parents is always at the nest, usually the female. After 4 weeks the young can be left in the nest while both parents hunt. After about 80 days the young are fledged but still regard the nest as home for a further two to three weeks. They are then dependent on their parents for a further one or two months sometimes even longer. Once fledged the young will begin to move further and further away from the adults. Some eventually find their own territories hundreds of miles from where they began.

  • The white tailed sea eagles of Scotland do not migrate huge distances and many of the young have set up their own territories in the islands and mainland of this beautiful country.

    • You can follow the fortunes of the young from Loch Frisa on the Isle of Mull by following this link - Mull 2009