Mammoth Eagle Thrills Maine

Birders and others in Boothbay Harbor, Maine have been thrilled in recent weeks with the appearance of a rare Steller’s sea eagle, a big raptor normally found thousands of miles from here.

This particular Steller’s was first spotted in Alaska in August 2020, and has been making his or her way east ever since, with stops in Texas, New Brunswick, Massachusetts, and now Maine. There are only 4000 Steller’s in the world, most of them live on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia.

It’s a big bird – a 6- to 8-foot wingspan, weighing up to 20 pounds – and it’s a big deal that the bird is in North America. “I would say that this is the most exciting rare bird that’s ever been in the United States,” Nick Lund, the advocacy and outreach coordinator for Maine Audubon, told the Huffington Post.

“Getting into the spring will be very interesting, because that’s when these birds look for mates and territories,” Lund said. It is possible for the Steller’s to breed with a bald eagle, which would relieve a lot of us who are concerned this single explorer might be lonely out here. “Everyone’s sort of waiting to see what might happen,” Lund said.

Some shots of the Steller’s sea eagle and lots of info here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1AkEThTSh4.