Wedge-tailed Eagle

by Penny Olsen

Overview

Australia’s Wedge-tailed Eagle belongs to the family of eagles, which together span the world. Eagles are powerful predators, with exceptional powers of flight and sight. They may kill to survive, but they also sleep, play, enjoy a bath, make tender parents, and form lasting relationships. This book gives a comprehensive overview of Australia’s largest true eagle and one of the country’s few large predators and scavengers. First appearing in Aboriginal rock-paintings more than 5000 years ago, the Wedge-tailed Eagle was little more than a curiosity to the early European settlers. The book traces the subsequent changes in perception—from its branding as a vicious sheep killer to an iconic species worthy of conservation—and covers distribution, habitat, hunting, relationships, reproduction and chick development. A final section deals with threats to the existence of this magnificent bird. Winner of the 2006 Whitley Award for Best Natural History of an Iconic Species.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780643099807
Publisher:	CSIRO PUBLISHING
Publication date:	11/17/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Penny Olsen is one of the world’s foremost authorities on raptors, and has contributed several chapters to the Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds Vol 2 Raptors to Lapwings (OUP 1993) and Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol II (Lynx Editions 1994). She has worked in the field on various birds of prey for nearly three decades, and published several books, including Australian Birds of Prey (UNSW Press 1995), Feather and Brush: Three Centuries of Australian Bird Art (CSIRO Publishing 2001) and Wedge-tailed Eagle (CSIRO Publishing 2006). Currently she edits Wingspan, the quarterly membership magazine of Birds Australia, Australia’s national birding organization and oldest conservation organization. In 2004, she was awarded an H.L. White Fellowship at the National Library to research a book on the extinct Paradise Parrot, Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet (National Library of Australia 2007).

Table of Contents

1. Musings
2. Eagles and Aborigines
3. Early records and names
4. Eagles and their relatives
5. The eagle’s country
6. Eagle specifics
7. Flight and sight
8. Reproduction
9. From egg to adult
10. Hunting and prey
11. Threats List of Scientific Names Bibliography Index