Novasola Sea Eagle
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Novasola
Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus
pacificus L 80-105 cm, WS 2-2.3 m (200-230 cm), Family: Accipitridae
IUCN Conservation Status: Near threatened (NT)
Description:
Large
raptor with large round head and heavy bill. Second largest bird of prey on
Novasola, behind only the Novasola Condor. Wings long and broad, tail square
and relatively short. Brownish overall, with white tail and large white shoulder
patches. Head lighter colored than body; bill and feet yellow. Juveniles darker
and lack white shoulders and tail, bill gray. Overall similar in appearance to other
Haliaeetus eagles, especially the White-tailed Eagle and Steller’s Sea Eagle of
Asia. Intermediate in size between Bald Eagle and Steller's Sea Eagle. Other
than size, can best be differentiated from Steller’s Sea Eagles by browner
color, lighter head, smaller bill, square tail, and dark legs.
Voice:
Calls
are surprisingly weak sounding for such a large bird. Primary calls are high-pitched
whistling notes, often written as kri-kri-kri-kri-kree, similar to the
calls of Bald Eagles, but slightly lower-pitched. They may also give deep-throated,
raking, cough-like calls and higher, gull-like cries during early breeding
season.
Habitat:
Known
best as a coastal bird, they may be found inland as well, across the entirety
of Novasola, but are generally tied to bodies of water. They prefer large water
bodies like bays, rivers, and lakes, that are surrounded by large trees and
forests. They are most numerous west of the Paramounts, especially along the
west coast, Charlotte Sound, Great Shadow Lake, Chidkayook River, and the Twin
Rivers, as well as Kosatka Island and the Francis archipelago, but can also be
seen in large numbers along the east coast, Fairweather Sound, and Culver Bay. Less
common in the prairie interior, restricted to the banks of large rivers. They
also breed on many Aleutian islands, and have been recorded in Alaska, Canada,
and Siberia.
Discussion:
One
of the largest birds native to Novasola, the Novasola Sea Eagle is outmatched
only by the Novasola Condor and the Black Crane. Females are generally larger
than males, which is common in raptors. Their wings are enormous and signal
danger to any unlucky fish or duck below. Their calls are hallmark of coasts
and lakes, and the bird is sacred to most indigenous cultures on the island,
perhaps for their power, might, and grace.
Common
in Novasola’s temperate rainforests and coastal forests, Sea Eagles are found
near large bodies of water, as their name suggests, which are surrounded by large
trees or forests. Eagles build their nests atop large conifers like Coopers-fir
or Dugout Spruce, and like to perch along the shore on snags or dead limbs.
Eagles take four years to reach sexual maturity, and their courtship rituals
are spectacular. Similar to Bald Eagles, Novasola Sea Eagles will engage in
daring flights with their partner, culminating in paired dives and a locking of
talons. Though rare, this dive can be lethal. Eagles have high site-fidelity,
meaning they generally remain in the same area for their entire lives, apart from
a few years between fledging and maturity where they disperse from the parent
nest to eventually find a mate. Monogamous, they mate for life and both parents
aid in nest construction and rearing of offspring.
Sometimes
called Fish Eagles, it is no surprise that the Sea Eagle’s diet consists mostly
of fish. They hunt by perching near or soaring above water, scanning with their
excellent eyesight to spot fish near the surface, and then grab the fish with
their powerful talons and pull them from the water, much in the same way as Bald
Eagles. Strong animals, eagles can fly off carrying fish of up to 35 inches
long, and they have been known to kill fish weighing close to forty pounds.
They prefer salmon, herring, trout, shad, carp, and bass. Sea Eagles are
opportunistic, though, and will prey on other species as well as scavenge. In a
study conducted by Novasola State University, 65% of a Sea Eagle’s diet was caught
fish or aquatic vertebrates, 20% was carrion or scavenged meat, and the
remaining 15 % was terrestrial prey, namely waterfowl, rodents, mustelids, and
fawns or calves. This reliance on fish is generally higher than in the Bald
Eagle, and it is thought that Novasola Sea Eagles eat less terrestrial animals
and scavenge less to avoid competition with condors and Novasola’s other
endemic eagle, the Paramount Eagle.
Novasola
Sea Eagles are members of the genus Haliaeetus, commonly called the Sea
Eagles. This groups contains the well known Bald Eagle, as well as the White-tailed
Eagle and the Steller’s Sea Eagle native to Asia, among others. The Novasola
eagle’s placement within the genus and its relationships to the other species are
not well known and under frequent debate. Historically, the Novasola eagle had
at any one time been considered either its own species or a subspecies of each
of the other three, or a hybrid, depending on the source. The most common idea was
that this bird was a subspecies of Steller’s Sea Eagle. Beginning in the late
19th century, scientists began categorizing the bird as its own
species. It was thought that the Novasola Sea Eagle may have evolved from
hybridization events between Steller’s eagles and white-tailed eagles, or
between Steller’s eagles and bald eagles, or combinations of all three, which
all appear as vagrants on Novasola. Over time, these hybrids would outnumber “pureblood”
eagles and outcompete them for Novasola territory, eventually leading to speciation.
This theory has more recently come under question, as it is unclear whether this
species is younger than the others, and new genetic evidence may suggest
otherwise. As a genus, Haliaeetus is interesting for within the group
exists many species pairs. A species pair, or species complex, is a sort of
taxonomic sub-group, where multiple species are so closely related that clear
divisions between them are difficult to delineate. Based on recent genetic
analyses, this genus contains four species pairs: the Sanford’s and
White-bellied Eagles, the Madagascar and African fish eagles, the White-tailed
and Bald Eagles, and the Steller’s and Novasola Sea Eagles. Based on this, the
Novasola Sea Eagle is more closely related to the Steller’s than to any of the
other eagles, but as a pair, the two may be more divergent than any of the
other pairs. In all, it is likely a combination of these theories that is true;
the Novasola Sea Eagle is as a species most similar to the Steller’s, but there
have been numerous recorded instances of hybridization events between them and
the three other eagles.
Famed
and awed by most Novasola residents, Eagles are especially significant to
indigenous cultures. Much like on mainland North America, native tribes of Novasola
revere the eagle and use their feathers in ceremonies and cultural practices,
and they feature heavily in indigenous art and storytelling. This is ture of
both endemic eagle species, though the Sea Eagle is perhaps more important to
Taiyalun and Eastern tribes, while the Paramount Eagle may be more significant
to Yukandaluk prairie tribes. The Ciganakin and Cishtaklun name for the eagle
is tixlaq.
Perhaps
due to the Corp’s reliance on water travel, the Novasola Sea Eagle was one of
the most commonly spotted birds of prey during the first and second NRC expeditions.
Though the bird had already been described scientifically by then, Reichwald
took detailed notes and descriptions of the bird, and of many of their
encounters.
“There
is perhaps no creature of the island that so commands like the Eagle. Regal in
his habits, he sits high atop his perch, visible to all, and like a monarch he
embodies might and majesty in equal measure. For every time an Eagle enters
view, all men must stop and bear witness. We have no choice; we cannot help but
watch in wonderment as the Eagle flies, such that, perhaps the briefest of moments,
all men stare and become silent, the bird then leaving a wake of awe and
stunned contemplation. It is true! In all my travels across the Fastwaters,
never had I or any travel partner spied the Eagle without making clear note or
an audible gasp or exclamation.
…
Noble
as it may appear, lording over God’s Creation, the Eagle is however betrayed by
his habits. He is a scoundrel, thief, and bully. As often as I have seen the
bird take fish from sea to his nest, I have seen another fight its way past scavengers
to a carcass or scare off other hunters of their deserved kill. With shrill whining
calls it announces its displeasure in cacophony, and its size and power seem at
times less fitted to any work of their own than to harassing other animals out
of the benefits of their own labor.” – Native Birds of Novasola, 1912
“I
have seen great numbers of the bird in the vicinity of Cape George, and across
the sound to the base of the Towers. Perhaps the greatest density of eagles,
however, is along the shore of the great Chidkayook and Great Shadow. I have
counted in one trip to the lake at least fifty individual birds in a stretch of
twelve miles. In winter I have seem them congregate in parties on the lake ice
in as many birds. During my expedition of 1903 I had totaled near three hundred
birds between or portage at Great Shadow and our arrival at the Pacific at the
Chidkayook’s mouth.” – Manual to Novasolan Birds, 1914