It breeds in the east Palearctic in Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.

Juveniles are overall darker, cooler brown with no band on the tail but with several pale areas on the wing, including the underwing coverts and inner primaries.

[4][5][6] However, in some cases Pallas's fish eagles have been reported to weigh as much as 4 to 5.5 kg (8.8 to 12.1 lb) and span as much as much as 240 cm (7 ft 10 in).

Since the greylag goose species is slightly heavier than the eagle, this is one of the greatest weight-lifting feats ever recorded for a flying bird.

[9] Another case of lifting a great load was recorded at the Yamuna River in north-central India, where an eagle captured a huge carp and flew with the struggling fish very low over the water, before dropping it in response to gunfire.

However, some information can be drawn from the molecular data, and especially from morphology and biogeography: This species retains the ancestral dark eye, bill, and talons of the first sea-eagles, shared with the older tropical lineage.

[14] The Pallas's fish eagle occurs in Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.

Besides direct persecution, humans contribute to the decline of this species through habitat degradation, pollution, and draining or overfishing lakes.

In India, the spread of water hyacinth in lakes possibly makes finding prey difficult for the Pallas's fish eagle.