---
title: "Steller's Sea-Eagle"
description: "Haliaeetus pelagicus — Birds. Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), also known as the Pacific sea eagle or white-shouldered eagle, is a very large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/steller-s-sea-eagle
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Steller's Sea-Eagle

> Haliaeetus pelagicus — Birds. Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), also known as the Pacific sea eagle or white-shouldered eagle, is a very large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.

- Scientific name: *Haliaeetus pelagicus*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1890
- Wikidata: [Q269896](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q269896)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5304](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5304)

## Names

- en: Steller's Sea-Eagle
- de: Riesenseeadler
- es: Pigargo gigante
- fr: Pygargue empereur
- nl: Stellers zeearend
- pl: Bielik olbrzymi

## Countries with the most observations

RU (647), JP (531), US (132), CA (90), KR (67), CN (30)

## Summary

Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), also known as the Pacific sea eagle or white-shouldered eagle, is a very large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was described first by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. No subspecies are recognized. A sturdy eagle, it has dark brown plumage with white wings and tail, a yellow beak, and yellow talons. Typically, it is the heaviest eagle in the world, at about 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb), but in some other standard measurements, may be smaller than the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) and the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi). Steller's sea eagle females are bigger…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_sea_eagle

## Photo

![Steller's Sea-Eagle](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/steller-s-sea-eagle/medium.jpg)

Photo: Andrew Holle · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/319895172

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/steller-s-sea-eagle?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).