Afghanistan (B) (NB), Albania (B) (NB), Armenia (B) (NB), Austria (B) (NB), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Belarus (B) (NB) (P), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria (B) (NB), China (mainland) (B) (NB), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB), Czech Republic (B) (NB), Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Estonia (B) (NB), Finland (B) (NB) (P), France (NB), Georgia (B) (NB), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Greece (B) (NB) (P), Greenland (B) (NB), Hungary (B) (NB), Iceland (B) (NB), India (NB), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (NB), Iraq (B) (NB), Japan (B) (NB), Kazakhstan (B), Kyrgyzstan (NB), Latvia (B) (NB) (P), Lithuania (B) (NB) (P), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B) (NB), Nepal (NB), Netherlands Antilles (NB), North Korea (NB), Norway (B) (NB), Pakistan (NB), Poland (B) (NB) (P), Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (NB) (P), Serbia (B) (NB), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB) (P), Slovenia (B) (NB), South Korea (NB), Sweden (B) (NB) (P), Switzerland (NB), Syrian Arab Republic (E) (P), Taiwan (China) (NB), Turkey (B) (NB), Turkmenistan (B), Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), Uzbekistan (NB).
Vagrant to Algeria (E), Bangladesh (NB), Belgium, Bhutan, Cyprus, Egypt, Ireland, Italy (NB), Lebanon (NB), Luxembourg, Malta, Myanmar, Portugal (E) (B), Saudi Arabia (NB), Spain (NB), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Thailand, Tunisia, USA (NB).
Unknown to Faroe Islands, Israel (NB) (P), Tajikistan.
South-western Greenland; western Iceland; northern and central Eurasia south to Greece and Turkey, southern Caspian Sea, L Balkash and Manchuria; formerly to lower R Yangtze; has bred on Attu I (western Aleutian Is). Winters south to northern Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Pakistan, northern India and south-eastern China.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 20,000 - 39,600 (2010).
Food
Carrion, fish, water birds such as gulls, ducks and auks, small mammals.
Voice
A dog-like yapping or yelping. A woodpecker-like 'kew, kew, kew, kew' and a quieter 'ko-ko-ko', generally uttered in courtship or at the nesting site.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Birds from Greenland sometimes separated in subspecies groenlandicus, on grounds of larger average size.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
albicilla (Linnaeus, 1758) - Locally in Palearctic, south-western Greenland, western Iceland and western Alaska.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet