Information
Has been known to take Kangaroo (about 1m tall, ascend into the air, dropping it, and then landing to finish it off) (from Birding-aus: Grant Cowell (r1200gs@fastmail.net), June 8, 2006) as prey.
Remarks
As an aid to identification in flight the following silhouettes may be of assistance
Food
Rabbits and carrion, but also young dingoes, marsupials and birds.
Voice
A wavering, high, rising whistle leading into a short, lower, descending 'pseet-you, pseet-you'. Screams uttered in aggressive encounters. Usually silent outside of the breeding season.
Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) [XC679527]
by Nigel Jackett from 'Chat Alley', Euabalong, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) [XC184703]
by id from Camballin, Western Australia, Australia (begging call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Usually June - July but can be earlier or later.
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Nest
A very large structure (up to 2.5 m across), composed of sticks and lined with soft bark and leaves, especially green leaves when young are in the nest, in a tree, often one that is isolated or commands a good view of the surrounding countryside.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 3, usually 2; white to pale buff-green, sparsely splotched with purple and brown; rounded-oval; about 73 x 58 mm. Incubation: about 45 days; by female. If there is more than one egg, one is invariable more lightly marked than the other, and occasionally pure white.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 70 - 90 days.
Subspecies
Has been considered to form superspecies with Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and possibly also with Gurney's Eagle (Aquila gurneyi).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
audax (Latham, 1801) - Mainland Australia, southern New Guinea.
fleayi Condon & Amadon, 1954 - Tasmania.
Similar Species
White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
Smaller. Adult with immatures. Underwing patchy brown and cream-buff. Wings have cream crescent at base of primaries. Tail is shorter.
Black-breasted Buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon)
Smaller. Adult with immatures. Has a white window in wing. Tail shorter and grey. Legs not closely feathered.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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