Enlightenment

The Steller’s sea eagle is one of the largest and most aggressive raptors in the world. With an 8-foot wingspan and striking white markings, these birds tower over their bald eagle cousins. Steller’s are sublime, but they aren’t beautiful in the way people often sentimentalize animals. Most adult Steller’s survived by beating their weaker sibling to death in the nest within weeks of birth and were rewarded for their aggression by nurturing parents. No wonder they can fight off brown bears and hunt on the sea ice of the Russian Arctic. Since mid-2020, one individual Steller’s sea eagle has drawn national media attention because of the vast distances it has traveled – from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to Alaska, then to Texas, eastern Canada, New England, and most recently, a reported sighting on May 2, 2023 in Newfoundland – and the extreme lengths to which birders are going to glimpse it. Biologists have learned remarkable th...