Which bird has the scientific name Haliaeetus leucocephalus?

Which bird has the scientific name Haliaeetus leucocephalus? The answer is the bald eagle.

The bald eagle is a large sea eagle native to North America. Its range includes Canada, Alaska, the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico, where it usually lives near lakes, rivers, estuaries, and coastlines. Fish are an important part of its diet, but it also eats birds, mammals, carrion, and stolen food.

The scientific name places it in Haliaeetus, a genus of sea eagles. The species name leucocephalus combines Greek-derived roots referring to a white head. The adult’s white head and tail contrast sharply with its dark brown body, but juveniles are mostly brown and may not develop adult coloring for several years.

“Bald” does not mean hairless: the word once meant white-headed. The bald eagle is also distinct from the white-tailed eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla, which occupies a similar ecological role across Eurasia. Carl Linnaeus originally described the species in 1766.