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6

Wedge-tailed Eagle
- Aboriginal information

(Aquila audax)
Alternative name: "Eaglehawk" (misnomer*)
Aboriginal names: Race "audax": "bilyara", "wallardoo", "cooradilla", "curawura"/"kurrawurra", "kilpara", "koothalla", "neeyangarra", "otella", "walowoona" "mullian"/"maliyan"/"mollyan", "nompie", "woorawa", "wulde" [gamilaraay, yuwaalaraay]; "mibany" [bundjalung]; "gurrijala" [ngadjon]; "bunjil" [kulin]; "woldja", "warlitj", "warlik", "warbako", "yelka" (WA)
Size: 90 cm - 1.1 m; wing span 1.8-2.5 m
Weight: 3-5.75 kg (female); 2-4 kg (male)

Back to the Wedge-tailed Eagle main page .

Spiritual significance

The Wedge-tailed Eagle features in Aboriginal creation stories. A few examples are reproduced or listed here.

R. A. Roberts and C. P. Mountford tell the story of "The Wedge-tailed Eagle, the White Cockatoo and the Blanket Lizard" (1968 ed.), p. 30. This story explains how Yurumu, the Eagle-man, took revenge on Kilpuruna for cheating on him with his wife, Narina. While Kilpuruna turns into a Blanket Lizard, Narina turns into a Sulphur-crested (White) Cockatoo.

R. A. Roberts and C. P. Mountford tell the story of "The Creation of the Eagle and the Crow" (1968 ed.), p. 64. This story tells how the Wedge-tailed Eagle was created and why all (Torresian) crows (ravens and crows in general) are black.

R. A. Roberts and C. P. Mountford tell the story of "The Native Cat, the Owl and the Eagle" (1968 ed.), p. 76. This story tells how the Wedge-tailed Eagle and the (Southern Boobook) Owl killed the Native-cat man, in whose place the star Betelgeuze, which is the spirit of the Cat-man, rose in the sky.

Disclaimer: Not being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, we make no claim of intellectual ownership of any of the information presented here. We merely collect facts and stories documented by others. Credits/references are listed HERE.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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