PROTECTED SPECIES
Wedge Tail Eagles are thankfully not yet endangered but they are a protected species and are vulnerable because of a loss of habitat, including but not limited to land clearing for agriculture and urban development.
Thankfully the powers that be decided that hunting of these magnificent birds should no longer be allowed.
We are incredibly lucky to have a Wedge Tailed Eagles’ eerie on the mountain, quite close to our Save Our Woodlands home base.
We often see the Eagle pair soaring high above the woodlands searching for prey.
The Wedge-tailed Eagle has a wingspan of 2.3 m (4 feet) a characteristic long, wedge-shaped tail, and legs that are feathered all the way to the base of the toes.
Young Wedge-tailed Eagles are mid-brown in colour with reddish-brown heads and wings.
They become progressively blacker for at least the first ten years of their lives; adults are mostly dark blackish-brown.
Wedge-tailed Eagles eat mostly carrion (road kills and other carcasses are readily eaten), however, they do include live prey in their diet.
Their diet reflects the available prey, but rabbits and hares are the most important live items.
Other food items include lizards, birds, and mammals.
Wedge-tailed Eagles will kill lambs, but they make up only a small percentage of their prey.
Wedge-tailed Eagles may hunt singly, in pairs or in larger groups.
Working together, a group of eagles can attack and kill animals as large as adult kangaroos
Wedge-tailed Eagles are monogamous and apparently, mate for life.
If one bird of a pair is killed, the survivor may find a new mate.
Established breeding pairs are territorial and live in one area throughout the year, defending around their nest sites from other Wedge-tailed Eagles.
(They are also known on occasion to attack intruding model airplanes, hang gliders, gliders, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.)
Surrounding the territories are large home ranges in which the birds hunt for food but do not defend.
There is usually an overlap between the home ranges of two or more breeding pairs and of non-breeding birds.
The nest is a large structure of dead sticks, usually reused for years, often reaching considerable size.
Both parents share in the duties of nest building, incubation and feeding of the young.
Save Our Woodlands is an environmentally conscious group of volunteers dedicated to preserving threatened birds, animals and ecosystems in the woodlands of New South Wales, Australia.
Only 15% of our woodlands remain, the rest has been cleared for agriculture.
Save Our Woodlands Inc. secures and protects woodlands in NSW and pays landholders, in perpetuity, to conserve, enhance and re-establish native woodlands on THEIR land, and to manage these woodlands, so they are maintained.
BUT we need YOUR help. Together we can bring about change. Please consider donating.
People tend to think that woodlands are “just bush,” consequently, over 85% of the native woodlands in New South Wales, Australia have been replaced by agriculture.
Donate $10 per month & help protect critical habitats. By doing so YOU will prevent further species from extinction.
Our work is only possible with your support.
