Rare Sea Eagle Descends on North America - These Giant Raptors Are Thousands of Miles from Home
Canadian wildlife officials spotted a Steller’s sea eagle thousands of miles away from the massive predatory bird’s native territory.
Terra Nova National Park, located in the northeastern Canadian province of Newfoundland, revealed last month in a Facebook post that the area had an “unusual visitor.”
The Steller’s sea eagle is “usually found in the Russian Far East, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula,” according to the post, but the one spotted at the park was “the only one of its kind known to be in the Western Hemisphere.”
The bird has a wingspan of eight feet and usually weighs 13 pounds, making it 25 percent larger than the bald eagle, the post said.
Terra Nova is usually closed during the winter months, but staff opened a road “to let visitors see this fantastic bird” at the end of December.
Sandra Moss, a wilderness photographer in the area, rushed to the park with her husband to get snapshots of the colossal bird.
She took 500 photos within 10 minutes of spotting the creature, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Moss said in an interview with Canada’s CBC that “no bald eagle comes close to the size of this bird.”
“I can’t explain how exciting it is,” she told the outlet. “It’s an incredible feeling to know that that bird has chosen us. That’s what it feels like.”
Moss added, “I wouldn’t have liked to have a pet or anything in my arms when he was there,” predicting, “[h]e’d probably take you and the pet.”
“It’s just amazing. It’s so unique. It’s huge,” she emphasized.
But this bird may already have an extensive history in North America.
Bird watchers are aware of a Steller’s sea eagle, appropriately nicknamed Stella, which has been spotted throughout the United States and Canada in recent years.
The bird seen at Terra Nova National Park may be the same creature, which has received internet attention in the past, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Stella was first photographed in Alaska five years ago. The bird flew to Texas, then to Quebec and New Brunswick in Canada, then to Nova Scotia, ultimately finding its way to Maine and Massachusetts.
The creature was seen in Newfoundland during the summers of 2022 and 2023, drawing tourists as it hunted spawning capelin alongside local bald eagles.
In the summer of 2024, Stella was spotted building a nest in Trinity, a town in Newfoundland.
Despite the excitement about the bird sighting, Steller’s sea eagles are listed as a “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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