Raptors

-- Background Information RAPTORS MCG Eagle The Wedge-tailed Eagle is the largest bird of prey in Australia – and also one of the largest in the world. With its wingspan of over 2 metres, and females weighing nearly 6 kilograms, they are an impressive bird. A Wedge-tailed Eagle is being used to keep the nation’s most popular sport – AFL – free from a pesky bird. Seagulls are swamping the MCG and the authorities want them moved on. The perfect solution is a trained Wedge-tailed Eagle – the mere sight of which scares them away! Black-breasted Buzzard The Black-breasted Buzzard is unique to Australia and is its third largest bird of prey. With a wingspan of over two and a half times its body length, it gives an impressive aerial display of dives and upward sweeps without flapping its wings. Black-breasted Buzzards show an unusual use of tools when feeding, picking up stones and using them to break open large eggs that are too difficult to crack with their beak. Emu eggs are prime candidates for this. Peregrine Chicks As city centres around the world grow upward and outward they create the ideal habitat for Peregrine Falcons. Skyscrapers mimic the cliff faces they are adapted to, with window ledges becoming roost and nest sites overlooking streetscapes and city parks full of easy pickings in the form of pigeons. New York is living proof of the importance of cities for peregrine falcons. It is now home to more pairs of peregrine falcon than any city in the world and has about 10 per cent of the total eastern USA's population. Like many raptors, peregrines nest with the same mate, year after year. They’ll return to the same nesting spot and go through their mating ritual, which includes amazing aerial spirals and dives. The male will catch prey and pass it to the female in mid air – a feat that involves her flying upside down to receive the food from his talons! Carnaby School Black cockatoos are on the brink in Western Aus