all areas marked with the colour brown on the Australian map are habitats to the wedge tailed eagle
ENVIRONMENT: The wedge tailed eagle is found throughout the Australian main land, as well as Tasmania. This large bird is found from sea level to alpine regions in the mountains; however they prefer wooded, forested land and open areas. The wedge tailed eagle often avoids rain forest and coastal areas. The wedge tailed eagle is rarely found in intensively cultured areas and is mostly absent around human settlements. You often see the wedge tailed eagle hinting in quite open areas, however they typically nest in dense forests. Wedge tailed eagles require a sustainable amount of water to survive, as it makes up a substantial percentage of their body weight. The wedge tailed eagle can receive water from their prey. Although wedge tailed eagles don’t have much need for soil, it grows all the materials needed for the birds to built their nests and grow the plants that sustain some of their prey. Wedge tailed eagles are affected that much by temperature change, however if it gets too hot they survive by drinking more water and resting in the shade. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can cause death. When it gets too cold for the wedge tailed eagle to bare they puff up their feathers and use this technique to try and stay warm. Wedge tailed eagles need light see as the have similar eyes to humans. Sunlight also helps them to stay warm when it’s cold.
CHALLENGES: The major challenges to the Wedge-tailed Eagle are loss of nesting habitat, the disturbance of nesting birds and, harassment by humans.
The nesting habitats of the wedge tailed eagle has been lost due to logging operations, which often leave nested trees isolated and clearance of habitat through agriculture. These sites are hardly re-occupied by wedge tailed eagles for breeding purposes after habitat clearances as there is an increased exposure to nesting sites.This is because the wedge tailed eagle is a very private and 'shy' bird that only forms nest in dense woodlands covered by a lot of trees and surrounding plants.
The wedge tailed eagles have had a decrease in successful breeding due to the increased disturbance of their nesting areas. The wedge tailed eagles will flee from their nest if exposed to levels of disturbances such as logging operations, roadworks, new developments and reconstructions, tourism and researches. This is because the wedge tailed eagle is known to be an extremely ‘shy’ nester and any form of ‘human activity’ near their nesting site will lead them to abandoning their nest.
The wedge tailed eagle eats a varied diet, including rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies, reptiles, other birds, foxes, possums, feral cats and sheep. Eagles will also feed on carrion and domestic livestock from farmers. It could be fatal to the wedge tailed eagle if they eat carrion/livestock. Farmers have grown annoyed from the wedge tailed eagle eating their livestock and have resorted to shooting, trapping and poisoning methods to stop the birds.
Threats to the wedge tailed eagle could also be: - non-target and secondary poisoning (for example if the wedge tailed eagle eats poisoned food meant for small rodents) -collisions with vehicles -collisions with overhead wires and fences -collisions with wind turbines, and electrocution -droughts -fires
ADAPTATIONS: Behavioral Adaptations: Wedge tailed eagles mate for life, they share a nest with their mate and carry out shared duties with their mate (for example caring for their eggs). During the wedge tailed eagles breeding season, they will do aerobic flights together over their territory before finding a nest or cliff edge. Young will stay at the nest under the care of their parents until mating season and need to build their own nest. The eagles attack their pray by diving and surprising them from above so they are able to quickly kill them before they escape. Wedge-tailed Eagles use the updrafts of thermals or hill slopes to rise effortlessly rarely needing to flap their huge wings, this saves them from wasting energy. They soar very high in great circles. Pairs often engage in aerobatic displays to advertise their territory to competitors, this helps the survival of their eggs/young as predators will be warned off.
Physiological Adaptations: Wedge tailed eagles are able to spot prey from far distances and are able to see rising thermals. They can detect the currents in the air to gain altitude while expending little energy. This helps the wedge tailed eagle as they can sustain energy for longer without unnecessary means to leave their nest.
Structural Adaptations: The wedge tailed eagle is one of the largest eagles in the world. The eagle’s size and weight allows it to hunt for larger animals and carry them back to their nest, for their young and mate. this helps the survival of the wedge tailed eagle as they are able to feed on a variety of different sized animals. The wedge tailed eagle has great adaptable vision which allows them to accurately assess distances and pinpoint their prey. this helps the eagles as they will not be aimlessly flying around and wasting energy. The wedge tailed eagle’s eyes are also equipped with bony rings which can squeeze and elongate the eyeball. This has the same sort of effect as the lens on a camera. This structural adaptations enables the bird to enlarge the image of their prey. Wedge tailed eagles have large talons and beaks which they use when attacking/killing their prey. Their large wingspan and body enables them to carry a lot more food to their young and allows the wedge tailed eagles to travel at greater distances as their wings are strong.
RHYTHMIC PATTERN:
Wedge tailed eagles mate for life with the same partner. The breeding season is from June to August in the south and from April to September in the north. The nest is a large platform of sticks, built high up in the fork of a tree. One to three eggs are laid and these hatch about 45 days later. The wedge tailed eagles breed from June to August in the south so that when the chicks are hatching from their shell it will be mid September (spring), this is when the weather in Australia begins to get warmer. This allows the parents to leave the chicks for short periods of time to hunt for food without them freezing to death. The weather in north Australia is warm most of the year that is why their breeding season is a lot longer than in the south. For the first 4 weeks the female stays on the nest, with the male doing all of the hunting. After this she joins her mate to hunt for food.
FACTS: -The wedge-tailed eagle is the largest bird of prey in Australia, and one of the largest birds of prey in the world.
-The wedge-tailed eagle is named for its long, diamond-shaped tail.
-Wedge-tailed eagles sometimes hunt cooperatively, and are able to take prey several times their own weight.
-The wedge-tailed eagle builds a massive stick nest that can be over two metres across and up to four metres deep.