Photo/Illutration A Steller’s sea eagle nicknamed the “Old Lady of Mount Yamamotoyama is wintering in the Kohoku region in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, for the 26th straight year. (Provided by the Kohoku Wild-Bird Center)

NAGAHAMA, Shiga Prefecture--A Steller’s sea eagle nicknamed the “Old Lady of Mount Yamamotoyama” has returned to its winter home here for the 26th straight year.

The bird was first seen wintering in the Kohoku region, north of Lake Biwako, in January 1998.

On Nov. 18 this year, an official at the Kohoku Wild-Bird Center in Nagahama witnessed it flying over Mount Yamamotoyama. Its identity was confirmed based mainly on the black-and-white patterns on the under-side of its wings. 

The eagle is about 1 meter long and has a wingspan of about 2.5 meters. 

The bird is estimated to be at least 32 years old because it was already an adult when it was first spotted.

According to the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo in Hokkaido, the average life expectancy of a Steller’s sea eagle in the wild is around 30 years.

However, a Steller’s sea eagle kept at the zoo died at the presumed age of 52.

The central government has designated the Steller’s sea eagle, one of the largest birds of prey in Japan, as a natural monument.

The bird breeds on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and elsewhere and winters in Hokkaido and other parts of Japan.

Currently, the Old Lady is the only Steller’s sea eagle that comes to Shiga Prefecture.

“She could have many friends in Hokkaido, and yet she seems to enjoy her own world here maybe because she doesn’t like fighting others,” a staff member of the bird center said.

The eagle usually stays in the prefecture until late February and then heads back north, the worker said.

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