White-tailed Eagle

The White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), also called the sea eagle, is Britain’s largest bird of prey, with a wingspan reaching an impressive 2.4 metres — broader than the Golden Eagle — and distinctive broad, rectangular wings held flat in flight. Adults have a pale head and neck that becomes almost white with age, a massive yellow beak, and a short, wedge-shaped white tail that gives the species its name. Once hunted to extinction in Britain by the early 20th century, it was successfully reintroduced from Norway beginning in the 1970s, with populations now established across the west coast and islands of Scotland, and more recently returned to southern England through landmark projects on the Isle of Wight. They favour coasts, sea lochs and large inland waters, nesting in tall trees or on cliff ledges, and pair for life, occupying the same territory year-round. Their diet is varied — fish, waterbirds, mammals and carrion — and they are known to scavenge opportunistically, even stealing meals from otters or following fishing boats for scraps.