Memorandum to:         The Director of Birds Australia

 

 

From:                           Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)

 

 

Date:                            8th February 2007

 

 

Voting Members:         Niven McCrie                 Glenn Holmes

Andrew Silcocks            Danny Rogers

                                    John Hatch                    Rohan Clarke

                                    Jamie Matthew              Peter Lansley

 

cc:                                David Stewart

 

 

Submission No 485: Gurney’s Eagle Aquila gurneyi, Saibai Island, Torres Strait, QLD. 5th September 2002. Submitted by Richard Baxter 

 

 

Verdict:  Accepted

 

 

This submission concerns the sighting of a Gurney’s Eagle Aquila gurneyi seen in flight associating with 2 Whistling Kites on the 5th September 2002 on Saibai Island in Torres Strait, QLD.

 

Essentially the bird is described as being considerable larger than the Whistling Kite, entirely dark brown/black in colour with a medium length rounded tail. These features therefore eliminating the other birds of prey that occur on the Australian mainland. Three other observers whom we understand agree with the identification, also saw the bird.

 

Seven of the eight voting members agreed with the submitting observer that this bird could only have been a Gurney’s Eagle and accepted the case. However, as the one dissenting member correctly pointed out this case makes mention of the fact that ‘there was no sign of the Wedge-tailed Eagle’s typical underwing pattern’. Given that Gurney’s and Wedge-tailed Eagle have very similar underwing patterns would suggest that this could not have been a Gurney’s Eagle.  Furthermore, the description and the facts surrounding this sighting appear to be more concerned with the elimination of Wedge-tailed Eagle than dark phase Little Eagle. Little Eagle is in the same genus, display slight size differences and have very similar plumages, if the observers were truly experienced with Little Eagle this would have been immediately apparent and been a focus point of the submission and the submission would appear to have been made from memory some 3 ˝ years after the sighting. However, following BARC’s rules 7 votes in favour warrants acceptance.

 

Following the trend of previous sightings from the Torres Strait this species may prove to be a regular visitor or vagrant to the Torres Strait. This is the 4th confirmed record of this species to be accepted by BARC

 

 

 

References & Bibliography:

 

·       Marchant, S. & Higgins, P.J., (1990), Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol 1. Ratites to Ducks, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

·       Beehler, B.M., Pratt, T. K. & Zimmerman, D.A. (1986), Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

·       Coates, B.J. & Peckover, W.S. (2001), Birds of New Guinea & the Bismarck Archipelago; A Photographic Guide. Dove, Alderley, Queensland.

·       Garnett, S. (1987), ‘An Australian record of Gurney’s Eagle’, Australian Bird Watcher 12, 134-135

·       Ferguson-Lees, J. & Christie, D.A. (2001), Raptors of the world. Christopher Helm, London.

 

 

 

Tony Palliser

Chairman Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)