On the various (few) times that I have seen 3 birds involved, I believe that it looked like a pair plus one. (I don’t think it has been clear which was male
or female as at that distance we can’t pick a size distance of a few cm). When a third bird was nearby, I recall has been a juvenile (pale). Which suggests a family thing. That is however a small sample size. The display could function both as pair bonding
and territorial marking.
Philip
From: Kim Farley [
Sent: Monday, 3 March, 2025 11:05 AM
To: Steve Read
Cc: Philip Veerman; NF; Peter Miller; CanberraBirds email list
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] wedgie flight patterns
I too have watched this behaviour on multiple occasions over the years. Yesterday afternoon, while driving along by Lake George I watched three Wedgies demonstrating this flight along the updrafts off the escarpment above the Lake. Or
I should say that at least two of the birds were doing the loop flight at the same time and possibly the third bird was doing the same. As I was driving it was a bit hard to give full attention to what was happening. But to judge by Steve's post, if all three
birds were looping then perhaps it was indeed a territorial demonstration?
On Mon, Mar 3, 2025 at 9:52 AM Steve Read via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
I've always known these displays by Wedge-tailed Eagles as 'pot-hooking', and used to mark a territory boundary: "flying up to almost vertical, stalling, accelerating down, and repeating" as Peter notes. Other eagles nearby could be the
other bird of a pair, or equally could be the eagle in the adjacent territory.
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: Canberrabirds <> On Behalf Of Philip Veerman via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, 2 March 2025 10:50 PM
To: 'NF' <>; 'Peter Miller' <m("optusnet.com.au","peterandalison1");" target="_blank">>; 'CanberraBirds email list' <m("lists.canberrabirds.org.au","CanberraBirds");" target="_blank">>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] wedgie flight patterns
Peter,
This is a fairly "common" thing to see. Pairs will fly together and one will do these deep dives and then rise up to the same altitude. Sort of like following a sine curve. I'm not sure "common" is exactly the right word but I have seen it several times from
the pair that I usually see over the Bullen range above the Murrumbidgee river along the Kambah Pool track. I have seen it in a range of other situations as well. It is presumably just a pair bonding display. Page 171 - 172 of HANZAB volume 2 provides a diagram
and description of this behaviour. I suspect most eagle species would also do something similar (but that is an assumption).
I have never heard of Immelmann manoeuvre and looked it up. Found this (copied below). I think it is a strange comparison and not based on birds, at least according to this internet reference. I only knew the name Immelmann as the author of the nice book on
Australian finches (Klaus Immelmann).
The Immelmann maneuver (strange spelling! But that is google) is an aerial maneuver that involves a half-loop followed by a half-roll. It's used to quickly change the direction of flight.
History
The Immelmann maneuver is named after German World War I pilot Max Immelmann.
Immelmann used the maneuver to reposition his aircraft for another attack after attacking another aircraft.
The maneuver was initially performed using Fokker Eindekkers, monoplane fighter aircraft.
How it's performed Dive past the enemy aircraft, Pull sharply up into a vertical climb, Turn hard to the side and down, and Dive a second time.
Challenges
The maneuver is difficult to perform and can be easy to fall out of.
It's especially difficult to perform in underpowered aircraft.
The maneuver makes the plane vulnerable to attack because of its slow hovering speed.
Uses
The Immelmann maneuver is useful for regaining altitude quickly.
It's also a great maneuver to put right before a spin.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Canberrabirds [ On Behalf Of NF via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, 2 March, 2025 9:43 PM
To: Peter Miller
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] wedgie flight patterns
peter
yes numerous times i have seen wedgetails perform an immelmann manoeuvre and in groups.
and little eagles. the scissors. like air combat.
and brown falcons.
it seems to me these are family members or breeding couples.
Nik
> On 2 Mar 2025, at 9:12 pm, Peter Miller via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
>
> I went for a walk with my son and a friend up to Old Joe, on the border between ACT/NSW at the NE corner of Goorooyaroo.
>
> Birds were not particularly plentiful (this was Friday morning), but we did have one really interesting observation.
>
> A wedgetail flew above us while we were at the top of Old Joe. But rather than riding the wind currents, he/she did a series of 6 or 7 "scallops"-flying up to almost vertical, stalling, accelerating down, and repeating-all with nary a flap although the bird
was clearly altering her wing shape. It just did the once, over maybe 400 or 500 metres and afterwards reverted to a much more normal soaring/circling pattern.
>
> Has anyone else observed this pattern in eagles or other raptors?
>
> I can't think of seeing anything like it-the closest I can come up with was watching white-necked ravens on an African mountain top which were doing somersaults in the wind-which at the time I thought of as play.
>
> thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Peter
>
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