Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) - BirdLife species factsheet

Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	10,600,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	increasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	18.1 years	-	-	-

Trend justification: The population is increasing owing to introduction of rabbits and deforestation. However it is still persecuted in parts of its range through shooting, trapping and poisoning using poisoned carcasses (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Breeding visitor
Australia	extant	native	yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 2000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/wedge-tailed-eagle-aquila-audax on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.