Whooper Swan	White-tailed Sea-Eagle	Stellar's Sea-Eagle	Hazel Grouse
Japanese Crane	Far Eastern Curlew	Latham's Snipe	Ross's Gull
Blakiston's Fish-Owl	Ural Owl	Black Woodpecker	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Eurasian Skylark	Long-tailed Tit	Snow Bunting	Common Redpoll
Tree Sparrow	Eurasian Jay	Northern Raven	Buller's Shearwater*
Swan Goose*	Ashy Minivet*	To Checklist	To Bird Guide Top

Stellar's Sea-Eagle   Haliaeetus pelagicus   Oo-washi

The Stellar's Sea-Eagle is the largest bird of our region and is endemic to the periphery of the Sea of Okhotsk. It comes to our area as a winter visitor and can be seen along the seacoast and at lakes and rivers. In recent years, however, increasing numbers are staying year-round at inland forests in search of the remains of deer that have been hunted. As a result, more of these birds are dying of lead poisoning from the bullets that remain in the carcasses. This trend is now being recognized as a social problem, with restrictions being placed on the use of lead in bullets based on views that the Stellar's Sea-Eagle will become extinct in 50 years if nothing is done. How this issue will be addressed is of considerable concern to us. With only around 5,000 left in the wild, the species is listed as Vulnerable.

The Stellar's Sea-Eagle resembles the White-tailed Sea-Eagle in size and with its white tail, but its bill is larger and the distinctive orange-yellow color of the bill can be recognized even from far away. The shoulder feathers also turn white in adulthood and are very distinctive along with the long wedge-shaped tail feathers.

Adult (Koshimizu Gensei-kaen Wild Flower Park, 1 December 2001)	Adult (Abashiri, 11 February 2001)
Juvenile (Mouth of the Shari River, 7 January 2004)
	Adult (Mouth of the Shari River, 7 January 2004)