Wedge-Tailed Eagle
Aquila audax
Aves › Accipitriformes › Accipitridae › Aquila
Conservation status: least_concern
This large bird of prey is one of the continent's most powerful avian predators. It is generally a mammal predator, though it hunts a wide range of prey, including birds and reptiles. It is found in Australia and southern New Guinea to the north.
How To Identify
It is a large and robust eagle with impressive wingspans; males feature strikingly colored wedge-shaped tails, while the overall plumage tends toward slate gray and dark brown.
Habitat
Wedge-tailed Eagles inhabit open and semi-open country including grasslands, woodlands, scrublands, and mountainous regions across Australia, Tasmania, southern New Guinea, and occasionally vagrant to other regions.
Behaviour
These eagles hunt by soaring at great heights and diving at speeds up to 150 km/h to catch prey including rabbits, hares, wallabies, and other birds, often returning to the same nest for many years.
Native Range
The wedge-tailed eagle is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania.
Did You Know?
Wedge-tailed Eagles are among the world's largest and longest-winged eagles, with wingspans reaching up to 2.84 meters (9.3 feet), and they can soar at heights exceeding 2,000 meters while hunting. They are known to live for over 20 years in the wild, making them one of Australia's longest-lived birds of prey.
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