MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 25, 2023
One helpful thing when communicating about birds is that we generally have an agreed-upon set of names for each species, set by the American Ornithological Society. Bird names can also lead to befuddlement, though, and it’s usually because of the colloquial names we use. Take the term “sea eagle.” 99.99% of the eagles that we see in Maine are bald eagles. But people also refer to bald eagles as sea eagles, and in fact, that is actually what their scientific name, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, means. There is, of course, one other sea eagle we need to discuss: the Steller’s Sea-Eagle. This enormous eagle from eastern Siberia made headlines the last two winters. This lone individual strayed to Maine, spending subsequent seasons around Georgetown. This species is actually in the same genus as bald eagle, though its name, Haliaeetus pelagicus, means it is the “sea-eagle of the sea.” ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox