Aquila audax

Wedge-tailed Eagle © Australian Museum

Wedge-tailed Eagle at nest. Photo: R Brown/Nature Focus © Australian Museum
Description

The Wedge-tailed Eagle is Australia's largest living bird of prey and one of the largest eagles in the world. It reaches 0.85-1.05 m in length and has a wingspan of 2.3 m. Females are larger than males, averaging 4.2 kg in weight and occasionally reaching 5.3 kg. Males usually weigh about 3.2 kg, although they may reach 4.0 kg.

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. There are no differences in plumage between the sexes other than that a female adult is generally slightly paler than her mate. The bill is pale pink to cream, the iris brown to dark brown, and the feet off-white.

The Wedge-tailed Eagle has long wings, a characteristic long, wedge-shaped tail, and legs that are feathered all the way to the base of the toes. In comparison, Australia's second largest eagle, the White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster, has shorter, more rounded wings and no feathers on its lower legs. The White-bellied Sea Eagle is 0.75-0.85 m long and has a wingspan of 1.8-2.2 m, and weighs 2.5-3.7 kg (male) and 2.8-4.2 kg (female).