The Steller's sea eagle is the largest of the sea eagles. It is called the heaviest known eagle. Its body is about 34 to 41 inches (86.5 to 105 centimeters) long. A female can weigh up to about 20 pounds (9 kilograms), and a male weighs less. Its wings can stretch up to 8 feet from tip to tip. It has a dark body with white on its shoulders, thighs and tail, and a very large yellow bill.

These eagles live near sea coasts and big rivers. They nest in eastern Russia, around the Sea of Okhotsk and on the Kamchatka Peninsula. In winter, many fly south to Japan. Not every one goes. Some stay in Kamchatka for the winter and move to open water.

A Steller's sea eagle hunts from a perch or while flying, and it catches prey in its talons. Sometimes it stands in shallow water or on ice and grabs fish that swim by. It eats mostly salmon, a kind of fish. Besides fish, it eats crabs, shellfish, small animals, gulls and carrion, which is an animal already dead. It will sometimes steal food from other birds.

A pair often returns to the same nest each year and adds more branches to it. The nests are huge, in big trees or on rocky cliffs. A nest can be 1.8 to 2.4 meters (6 to 8 feet) wide. A female lays one to three eggs in spring. The eggs take about 38 to 45 days to hatch. A pair usually raises just one chick, even when more than one egg is laid.

A chick is covered in soft gray-white down that slowly changes to brown feathers. By the time it is five weeks old, it eats about one pound (0.4 kilograms) of fish a day. It learns to fly when it is about 10 weeks old. A young eagle gets its full adult feathers at about four to five years old.

Words to know

• shallow: not deep
• talons: sharp claws
• carrion: dead animal
• peninsula: land by water
• perch: high seat

The short version

The Steller's sea eagle is the largest of the sea eagles and is called the heaviest known eagle. It nests in eastern Russia and many fly south to Japan in winter. It eats mostly salmon, and a pair usually raises just one chick, even when more than one egg is laid.

Quick facts

• A female Steller's sea eagle can weigh up to about 20 pounds (9 kilograms), and a male weighs less.
• A Steller's sea eagle's wings can stretch up to 8 feet from tip to tip.
• Steller's sea eagles eat mostly salmon, a kind of fish.
• Steller's sea eagle eggs take about 38 to 45 days to hatch.
• As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List lists the Steller's sea eagle as Vulnerable.