Wedge-tail eagle sighting possibility (Brisbane West, QLD)?? (1 Viewer)

Today walking home from my bus stop I saw two very large birds circling some trees up the road. They had a massive wing span and I managed to gaze up at one as it flew right over me as I was walking along. The only thing I could think of with a wingspan of its size was a wedge tail eagle.

I live in a very green suburb. There's lots of trees. We have masses of lorikeets living around here, we can get up to 20 at a time on our small bird table on any given day which I think is quite good going... as well as that a lot of cockatoos (sulphur crested and a number of yellow-tail black cockatoos as well).

Given the numbers of tall trees and that it's a very new suburb with a lot of greenery and large blocks of land still untouched I can only guess that it's a possibility that it could well have been a pair of wedge tails circling the area.

Does this seem plausible, for Western Brisbane suburbs though...?

I wish I had photos. I was just too surprised to have potentially sighted them in the wild to take advantage of the opportunity to snap a pic on my iPhone :-O

Luke - Welcome to BirdForum!

Anything is possible of course, and birds do show up in the strangest places. It's hard to answer your question without a few more details:

Do you know your BOP's? Can you recognize them from just a fleeting glance at their 'jizz'? and can you tell the different BOP's without sighting them, just by the different alarm calls and behaviour of other birds in the vicinity?
i.e. Can you readily tell the difference between Eagles, Kites, Harriers, Hawks, and Falcons? from just a glance.

Birds such as Whistling Kites, Black Kites, Square-tailed Kites, Spotted Harriers, Little Eagles have wingspans of ~5ft to 4&1/2ft, and are approximately 2ft long (beak to tail). These are really big birds when seen close up.

How far away from you were the birds? and how close did they come to you? (when they flew over you), and how populated is it?
What were the weather conditions like? (hot? sunny? overcast? stormy? windy?) Time of day? What's the topography like? Hilly? Flat?
What's the vegetation like? Forest? Woodland? Grassland? Creekside? and how intact is it - under canopy layers, connectivity, old-growth?

Wedge-tailed Eagles don't seem overly fond of humans (understandable given the historical persecution, and the destruction of their habitats still going on), whereas a Black-Kite is far more gregarious and adapted. It also depends on whether they're nearby residents, or just passing through.

When seen close up a Wedge-tailed Eagle is massive 7&1/2 to 8&1/2ft wingspan, and 3&1/2ft or more long (~twice as big as a Little Eagle) and will have you looking for the nearest exit if really close up!

Pending more details along the lines of the questions I posed above, my initial thoughts of other possibilities (assuming a dark soaring type BOP) would be either Black-Kite or Little Eagle (Dark morph), or maybe even Spotted Harrier (identical dihedral angle). Wedge-tails are hard to mistake, because of the classic wedge shaped tail. Be interested to hear what you have to say.


Chosun :gh:

LukeM said:

Does this seem plausible, for Western Brisbane suburbs though...?

Click to expand...

Yes, I have seen Wedge-tailed Eagle in the western Brisbane suburbs, Keperra or the Gap I think it was.

I saw one over Morningside, just south of the city, on my last visit, so yes, quite plausible.

A few years ago, Brisbane authorities contracted a falconer to fly a Wedgie to discourage ibises from roosting and nesting in huge numbers in city parks and open spaces. I don't know if they continue to do so. I've seen Wedgies just north of the city, beyond Nundah, a couple of years ago.
MJB

I've seen wedgies and White-bellied Sea Eagle around Lake Samsonvalle (west of Brisbane) in the past, so I should think it is very likely that you may have seen an eagle of some description. That said, if you are not used to looking at birds of prey, kites and harriers can seemingly have 'massive' wingspans as they can appear just as dramatic as an eagle. If you are used to seeing Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos and you feel the birds in question were substantially larger than these then I think your initial suspicions are probably right.
ATB
Andy

Wedge Tails.

I'm out near Mount Crosby, I regularly see wedge tails here, I have seen them over Kenmore too, so I think it's very possible that you sighted a pair over the western burbs.

They are very distinctive, even from a distance.

I live in Samford and we have a pair here most days...not unlikely at all