RE: Active wedge tail eagles nest?

["Pedroanddi" <>]

Hi Phillip

 

I considered:

• Little Eagle. From my view of the bird from the head and along the back it was already larger than an adult LE;and
• White-bellied Sea Eagle. While Lake Tuggeranong and the Murrumbidgee could be seen from the nest the nearest part of the river was at least a kilometre away and it is my understanding that WBSE nest near water.

As our books are still in disarray from being packed up for the painters I relied on an old (cost 22/6) Concise Oxford Dictionary which defines fledgling as simply "young bird" . However I notice the derivation is from the French for "fit to fly".

 

The bird certainly had feathers as I could see the back feathers move in the wind but only expert flyers would have ventured out in the severe conditions.

 

Peter

 

. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Veerman [
Sent: Sunday, 15 October 2006 5:27 PM
To: Pedroanddi
Cc:
Subject: Active wedge tail eagles nest?

Hi Peter,

 

It is actually a nestling, not a fledgling. As it is obviously from your description still downy, and more to the point has not left the nest yet (at which point a nestling becomes a fledgling), see recent discussion on this. I can't comment on what species it is. Both our eagle species have white down.

 

Philip