A wedge of a tail
The diamond-shaped tail is the easiest way to know it, even from far below.
The outback
Wedge-tailed eagle
Aquila audax
Australia's biggest bird of prey: dark brown, with long wings and a long, wedge-shaped tail.
- Size
- Wingspan up to 2.8m
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Open country all over Australia
Soars round you in wide circles. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Wedge-tailed eagle
Good to know
Six things about the wedge-tailed eagle
Soaring high
It can circle for hours, sometimes more than a mile up, without flapping.
Sharp eyes
It sees far more detail than we can, and can also see ultraviolet light.
A huge nest
The nest of sticks is used year after year, and can end up two metres across and as deep.
Darker with age
Young birds are golden brown. They grow darker each year, and old birds are almost black.
Road sweeper
It eats rabbits and wallabies, and a great many animals killed on roads.
The real thing
Photos of the wedge-tailed eagle
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look for a big dark bird with a long tail, soaring very high, or standing on a dead animal beside an outback road.
How to help
Slow down near eagles feeding on the road: they are heavy and slow to take off. Moving roadkill off the road saves them.
Keep going