Why It's Surprising To See A Steller's Eagle In The US

Vagrancy has many causes, and raptors like the Steller's sea eagle also might travel due to habitat loss, climate change, other environmental threats, or even just confusion, according to Audubon.

The bird seems content to stay put for now. Maine is not that different from the Siberian coastline, as anyone who has visited Portland in the winter could tell you. "The estuaries and harbors along Maine's coast are similar enough to the habitat this bird would (or should) be using in coastal Japan that the eagle is about as 'at home' as it could be, despite being on the wrong continent," Doug Hitchcox, a Maine Audubon naturalist, told The Boston Globe. There's even a chance that it could mate with a bald eagle — hybrid species have been observed before.

But there's also a chance that, having made this journey, it could return to Japan or Russia, Hitchcox told MassLive. The bird appears healthy, according to Audubon, and is clearly up for a long trip.

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