African Fish-Eagle

Ad: Head and neck white, extending as 'V' down centre of mantle. Remainder of mantle, scapulars, back and rump blackish brown. Tail white. Lesser upper wing coverts chestnut; remainder of coverts and flight feathers black. Lesser and median underwing coverts chestnut; greater underwing coverts and flight feathers slaty black. Breast white; belly, thighs and vent chestnut. Bill blackish; cere, lores and bare skin around eyes yellow. Eyes pale brown to hazel. Legs and feet yellow.

Imm: Takes 4-5 yr to reach ad plumage^32,40. Transition individually variable³². Each successive moult leads to gradual 'neatening' of plumage, with white areas becoming cleaner, and dark areas more uniform. In second year, crown mostly brown, with blackish eyebrow. Face, neck, mantle and upper rump whitish, with little dark streaking; breast heavily streaked dark brown, belly mostly blackish³². Remainder of upper parts brown, mottled white. Tail white, with blackish tip; slightly shorter than juv^32,40. Third year as ad, but retains some black streaks on neck and breast; scapulars brown. Underwing coverts and belly black, thighs chestnut³². Cere and facial skin pinkish; legs pale yellow⁴⁰. In fourth and fifth year, black streaking lost from head and breast, chestnut feathers appear on shoulders and belly, and facial skin becomes yellow^32,40.

Juv: Scruffier and more variable than imm; male usually darker than female^6,40. Face brown, streaked white; supercilium and nape greyish. Crown and remainder of upper parts drab brown or blackish, with variable pale streaks. Tail longer than ad; whitish, with narrow brown or black tip. Underwing brown, with whitish patches in flight feathers (broadest on inner webs), forming pale streaks in wing³². Underwing coverts variably streaked whitish, especially lesser coverts and axillaries. Foreneck brown, streaked white. Breast white, streaked brown. Belly blackish, with warm brown streaks. Eyes brown, cere and facial skin grey. Legs and feet pale yellow. Starts transition to imm after 9-11 mo.

Confusing species: Osprey much smaller than imm, with pale crown, blackish eye stripe and mask, and yellow eyes. In flight, wings narrower, with distinctive bend at carpal joint; inner underwing coverts mostly white (not brown), and (barred) tail considerably longer. Juv Palm-nut Vulture slightly smaller, with more rounded wings, tail basally brown (not white), and underparts more extensively white.

Author:RE Simmons