Today I witnessed, briefly because it happened near the crest of our valley, two wedge-tailed eagles courting. The swoop upwards, the stall & the swoop downwards were spectacular. I didn't see the tumbling duo part of the display but I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.
Can anyone say if the courting display occurs within cooee or eagle call of the nesting site? There are some large river red gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis in the next valley & some of our trees are maturing to the stage where they might be able to support a nest. Hope springs eternal.
That is excellent Woko how magnificent are these birds? I am very lucky where I live I get to see them on a daily basis, the most I have seen at one time was 15 and apparently it is called a 'creche of eagles' when they all get together & the juveniles pair up for the next breeding season & I was told this happens every two years, can anyone out there confirm this, I saw it happen last year but not this year & it happens around Easter time. Around that time this year I did witness the same courting procedure, was amazing & I do believe there are nests not far from me, will have to put on the hiking boots and go look.
I see the wedge-tailed eagles spasmodically where I live but it's always a great event when they're about, however high or low. One day I disturbed one as I came around a bush. It was only about 8 metres from me & took off with a great beating of enormous wings. One of the marvellous events of my life.
We have a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles living close by. They often come and circle over our paddock. When we had lots of ducks, the ate the chicks every year, no more ducks.LOL Both of them circled over us yesterday, very high though. One of them came closer, but as you can see in the photo, was most of the time behind (above) trees. No good pictures, what you see in front of the Eagle, the white fluff, are leaves of the tree. This was the best I could do.
M-L
And a very acceptable best it is, too, Araminta. Two wedge-tailed eagles were out & about again yesterday. (I presume they were the same pair in my original posting). One followed the other, gliding north up our valley after circling for a while.
Wow Araminta great job I so need a suitable camera to get some photos, thing is you can not get too close to them as they will take flight so I guess a camera with a lense of some sort. They were out in force on Friday saw one adult sitting on a fence post & bumped into two juveniles fluffing around in a paddock on my way into town, so close to the road even my little camera would have taken a reasonable shot but alas it was at home
Hi Woko
I will read my WtE information about breeding display. I think this sort of behavior is pre-nesting and most likely happens throughout the territory, most likely around the boundaries.
Last Saturday my wife and I observed (just next to Penrith Railway Station) what I assume is our resident Wedgie pair flying very low (just over tree top height) together with the smaller male often turning on his back (he was flying lower) throwing his talons out at the female. She was very quick at moving out of the way each time. I believe this is also some territorial display, pair bonding flight behaviour.
Let me consult my Penny Olsen book and come back to you.
My local pair nests about 5-6km away from where we saw them, that is if it was the pair I regularly see at the quarries. I could tell if I was able to photograph them, but I didn't have my camera.
This is paraphrased from Penny Olsen's book "Wedge-tailed Eagle" (p.44).
"As the breeding season approaches, pairs often perform the exuberant flying displays that help define territories and cement the pair bond. They may soar together on thermals, circling up until invisible to the naked eye then plummeting down. The male in particular puts great energy into these displays showing off his aerobatic skill. Mated pairs or lone males plunge, wings drawn back, pitching forward into a steep descent and then swooping up with the momentum to pause for a moment before tipping to fall again in a a spectacular series of pot hooks. The pair make playful mock attacks at each other and roll and parry. The male often flies above the female and swoops down at her she’ll roll over to throw her talons at him. Occasionally they lock talons and cartwheel down together."
Woko
E-mail me at [email protected] and I will send you a research paper about the characteristics of sites where Wedgies nest.
Thanks, Windhover. Will do. I'm most interested as wedge-tailed eagles have nested in our area before tho' I'm not sure where. It would be magic if they nested on our place.