With some 39 or so species, the Aquilinae is distributed on every continent, excluding Antarctica. These species may be distinguished from most other accipitrids by the feathering covering their legs, regardless of distribution. The subfamily is commonly referred to as booted eagles or sometimes as true eagles. The eagles of the Aquila genus are part of the subfamily Aquilinae, within the larger Accipitridae family. However, this species is clearly quite similar, in many respects of morphology, appearance, behaviour and life history, to other species in the Aquila genus. At one time, the wedge-tailed eagle was classified in it is own monotypical genus Uroaetus, perhaps due to its unique form. The specific scientific name for the species audax, is derived from the Latin audac, meaning “bold”, indicative of the perceived disposition of these raptors, perhaps when hunting (although ironically this species is in general highly wary otherwise and even “timid” towards humans). The genus Vultur is today used only for a completely unrelated bird of the New World vulture family, the Andean condor ( Vultur gryphus). The species was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Vultur audax. Ī young wedge-tailed eagle perched in Birdsville Track with an unusual amount of pale colour showing due likely to moult. Although historically heavily persecuted by humans via poisonings and shootings, mostly for alleged predation on sheep, wedge-tailed eagles have proved to be exceptionally resilient and have quickly rebounded to similar or even higher than pre-colonization numbers, thanks in part to mankind inadvertently providing several food sources such as rabbits and large volumes of roadkills. This species is known to be highly sensitive to human disturbance at the nest, which may lead to abandonment of the young. Nesting failures are usually attributable to human interference such as logging activity and other alterations, which both degrade habitats and cause disturbances. Usually breeding efforts manage to produce one or two fledglings, which after a few months more tend to disperse widely. This species generally constructs a large stick nest in an ample tree, normally the largest in a stand, and lays typically two, although sometimes 1 to 4, eggs. Wedge-tailed eagles tend to pair for several years, possibly mating for life. Additionally, wedge-tailed eagles often eat not inconsiderable amounts of carrion, especially while young. The introduction of the European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been a boon to the wedge-tailed eagle and they hunt these and other invasive species in large volume, although the wedge-tailed eagle otherwise generally lives off of marsupials, including many surprisingly large macropods.
Although a true generalist which hunts a wide range of prey, including also birds, reptiles and rarely other taxon, this species is by and large a mammal predator. The wedge-tailed eagle is one of the world’s most powerful avian predators. Preferred habitats, however, tend towards those that have a fairly varied topography including rocky areas, some open terrain and native woodlots such as Eucalyptus stands. They reside in most habitats present in Australia, ranging from desert and semi-desert to plains to mountainous areas to forest, even sometimes tropical rainforests.
The wedge-tailed eagle is one of its native continent’s most generalized birds of prey. A large brown-to-black bird of prey, it has a maximum reported wingspan of 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) and a length of up to 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in). Genetic research has clearly indicated that the wedge-tailed eagle is fairly closely-related to other, generally quite large members of the Aquila genus. The wedge-tailed eagle is one of 12 species of large, predominantly dark-coloured booted eagles in the genus Aquila found worldwide. This very large but fairly lanky eagle has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail, with very elongated, strong beak and quite powerful feet. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. The wedge-tailed eagle ( Aquila audax) is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia.
0 kommentar(er)
