Any of various large fish-eating
eagles (especially in the genus
Haliaeetus), of which the best known is the
bald eagle. Sea eagles live along rivers, big lakes, and tidewater worldwide except in South America. Some reach over 3 ft (1 m) long. All have an exceptionally large, high-arched beak and bare lower legs. The toes' undersurfaces are roughened for grasping slippery prey. They eat mostly carrion but sometimes kill, snatching fish from the water surface and often robbing their chief competitor, the
osprey. Asian species include the gray-headed, or greater, fishing eagle and the lesser fishing eagle.
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