White-tailed Eagle

How to recognise it

• Adults are evenly brown with a pale brown head and a short, wedge-shaped white tail
• Very heavy yellow bill, and adults also have yellow cere, feet and eyes
• Broad wings with straight edges, a squared-off tip and spread, very long flight feathers
• Young birds are dark brown without a white tail, with dark grey feet and cere

Call and song

The White-tailed Eagle is quiet except in the breeding season, when it gives a cackling, shrill series that recalls the call of a Black Woodpecker. The calling is heard almost only near the nest, mainly at dawn and dusk. The alarm call is a deep, hard "kleck".

Where and when

The White-tailed Eagle is a partial migrant that breeds in Sweden, mainly along the Baltic coast and at freshwater lakes across the country. In winter Swedish birds may move south to central Europe, move shorter distances or stay in the breeding area. The population was estimated in 2025 at about 2 800 reproductive individuals. It is reported from all 21 counties and most often from November to February.

Food and behaviour

It feeds mainly on fish, often pike and bream, as well as waterbirds, small mammals and carrion. It often steals food from other animals and birds. If it grabs a fish that is too big, it can swim ashore with the catch by paddling with its wings. It spends much of the day sitting in trees or on cliffs, often still for hours, and in winter eagles gather in groups.