Gurney's eagle (''Aquila gurneyi'') is a large

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

in the family Accipitridae. It is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and

Wallacea Wallacea is a biogeography, biogeographical designation for a group of mainly list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australia (continent), Australian continental shelf, continental ...

, and is an occasional vagrant to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British banker and amateur ornithologist

John Henry Gurney John Henry Gurney (4 July 1819 – 20 April 1890) was an English banker, amateur ornithologist, and Liberal Party politician of the Gurney family. Life Gurney was the only son of Joseph John Gurney of Earlham Hall, Norwich, Norfolk. At the ag ...

(1819–1890).

Description

This eagle is a fairly large species, though mid-sized as a member of the genus ''Aquila''. It is mainly dark brown to black, with paler undersides to its flight feathers and a rounded tail. Its body length is with a wingspan of between . Females are larger than males. One immature female weighed . Males are estimated to weigh about in this species.Parry, S. J. (2001). ''The booted eagles (Aves: Accipitridae): perspectives in evolutionary biology''. University of London, University College London (United Kingdom). Its wings are held level when gliding. It feeds on

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s (such as

cuscus Cuscus ( or ) is the common name generally given to the species within the four genera of Australasian possum of the family Phalangeridae with the most tropical distribution: * '' Ailurops'' * '' Phalanger'' * '' Spilocuscus'' * '' Strigocu ...

es),

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s. Juveniles have brown scapular feathers, wing coverts, and back, mottled with gray and buff. The black tail is faintly barred, and the head and underparts are light brown fading into a cream-colored belly and legs.

Range and habitat

Gurney's eagle is found from the Moluccas to Irian Jaya and most of New Guinea, from sea level to 1500 meters above sea level. It has been recorded from Saibai and

Boigu Boigu Island (also known as Malu Kiyay or Malu Kiwai) is the most northerly inhabited island of Queensland and of Australia. It is part of the Top Western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York P ...

islands in north-western

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

, thus putting it on the

n bird list. It inhabits a wide range of habitats from sea level to the snow line.

Conservation

Gurney's eagle occurs at low population densities and is likely to be declining slowly through habitat loss and degradation. It is considered to be

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

and is listed on

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

Appendix II.

References

Works cited

* BirdLife International (2006). Species factsheet: ''Aquila gurneyi''. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9/12/2006 * Coates, B.J. (1985). ''The Birds of Papua New Guinea, Vol. 1, Non-Passerines.'' Dove: Alderley, Queensland. * Morcombe, Michael (2000). ''Field Guide to Australian Birds.'' Steve Parish Publishing: Queensland. {{Taxonbar, from=Q593442

Gurney's eagle Gurney's eagle (''Aquila gurneyi'') is a large eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is found in New Guinea and Wallacea, and is an occasional vagrant to Australia. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British banker and amateur orn ...

Birds of the Maluku Islands Birds of prey of New Guinea