Description de l'Égypte
The genus "Haliaeetus" was introduced in 1809 by the French naturalist Marie Jules César Savigny in his chapter on birds in the "Description de l'Égypte". The two fish eagles in the genus "Ichthyophaga" were found to lie within "Haliaeetus" in a genetic study in 2005, they were then moved accordingly. They are very similar to the tropical "Haliaeetus" species. A prehistoric (i.e. extinct before 1500) form from Maui in the Hawaiian Islands may represent a species or subspecies in this genus.