Rufous-bellied Eagle

Scientific Name: Lophotriorchis kienerii
Malay Name: Helang Perut Merah
Chinese Name: 棕腹隼雕

Range:
Found from India to Sri Lanka, Hainan Island and Southeast Asia.

Taxonomy:
Polytypic. Subspecies are: kienerii, formosus.

Local Subspecies: formosus

Size: 53-61 cm

Identification:
Adult has slight crest, blackish head-sides/upperparts, whitish throat/upperbreast and rufous-chestnut belly/vent. In flight shows mostly rufous-chestnut wing-coverts. Juvenile has browner upperparts, whitish head-sides with blackish eyeline and mostly whitish underparts/wing coverts.

Similar looking species: Osprey, Changeable Hawk-Eagle

Habitat: Forest, forest edge, secondary growth and suitable wooded areas.

Behaviour/Ecology: Usually glides and soars with wings held level.

Local Status: Rare migrant

Conservation Status: Near Threatened (BirdLife International 2020)

Featured articles:

• Minor checklist revision for April 2017 (Revisions)
• Singapore Birds Project Raptor Watch at Henderson Waves (Blog)

Featured reports: Mar 2022, Apr 2022, May 2022, Jul 2022, Aug 2022, Sep 2022, Oct 2022, Nov 2022

Past accepted records in our database:

Juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle at Panti Bird Sanctuary. Photo Credit: See Toh Yew Wai

Rufous-bellied Eagle at Bukit Drive. Photo credit: Francis Yap

Adult Rufous-bellied Eagle at Jelutong Tower. Photo Credit: Leslie Fung

Juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle at Bukit Timah. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle at Bukit Timah. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle at Bukit Timah. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle at Bidadari. Photo Credit: Alan Ng