Welcome to the White-Bellied Sea-Eagle camera at Discovery Centre, Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia.



The eagles are currently incubating 2 eggs.

First egg laid -- July 4th
Second egg laid -- July 7th

First hatch -- August 14th, 8:55 am AEST (41 days)
Second hatch -- August 15th, 1:45 pm AEST (39 days)

Sad news -- older chick S1 died August 19th, possibly suffocated by the remains of a pigeon that was placed in the nestbowl with the chicks; heavy rain might also have been a contributing factor

Fledge -- 5:14pm November 9 (86 days, or a little over 12 weeks) - link

Link to our page for this nest: Australian White-Bellied Sea-Eagle Cam (link for smaller cam window)
Other links to camera: CLICK HERE and HERE

The camera does not have sound.

WHITE BELLIED SEA-EAGLE GENERAL INFORMATION

The White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), also known as the White-breasted Sea Eagle, is a large bird of prey.
A distinctive bird, the adult White-bellied Sea Eagle has a white head, breast, under-wing and tail. The upper parts are grey and the black under-wing flight feathers contrast with the white coverts. The tail is short and wedge-shaped.

The female is slightly larger than the male, and can measure up to 90 cm (36 in) long with a wingspan of up to 2.2 m (7 ft), and weigh 4.5 kg (10 lb). Immature birds have brown plumage which is gradually replaced by white until the age of five or six years. The call is a loud goose-like honking.

The White-bellied Sea Eagle is revered by indigenous people in many parts of Australia, and is the subject of various folk tales throughout its range

BREEDING SEASON
Mating behaviour is similar to that of the Bald Eagle with talon grasping and cartwheeling display.

EGG LAYING
Usually two dull white oval eggs measuring 55mm and incubated over 6 weeks before hatching. Eggs are incubated by both adults.

CHICKS
Covered in white down when they hatch which turns to brown.
Although two eggs are laid it is unusual for two to be reared successfully to fledging. One egg may be infertile or the second chick may die in the nest.
If the first clutch is lost the parents may attempt a second clutch.

FEEDING:
Initially the male brings food and the female feeds the chicks but both parents feed the chicks as they grow larger.

FOOD: Fish, turtles, sea snakes, birds, possum and carrion.

FLEDGING
70 to 80 days old and remain in the parents' territory for up to 6 months or until the following breeding season.

White-bellied Sea-Eagles in the Wanngal Woodland Newington Nature Reserve



There has been a Sea-Eagle nest in the woodland for many years, with a succession of eagle pairs renovating the nest in the breeding season. Historic observations go back to at least 1991. The early records are incomplete, but eagles have been observed in the woodland or fishing along the Parramatta River for many years. Both juvenile and adult Sea-Eagles have been seen in the area, but there are no early records of successful breeding. Sadly over the years, several eagles have been found dead.
The first recorded young in the nest was in 2003, when a juvenile was photographed on the nest. That bird fledged, and left the area.
In 2004, a pair built a nest in a Grey Mangrove tree on the banks of the Parramatta River– their favourite day-time place. They in fact built a second nest there, as their first was unstable. The female was sitting on eggs, which were expected to hatch soon, when she sadly died. The male was found dead nearby. Tests were conducted and it was probable that both died from the same unknown cause.
In the years following, eagles were reported, but not nesting, until 2008, when our current female nested successfully. Nest renovation and egg laying was observed and photographed from a hide nearby. We first recorded a chick in mid August and we were thrilled when it flew towards the end of October. It was found injured shortly after and taken into care, where it sadly died. The original male from this breeding was seen injured and disappeared earlier whilst the chick was still in the nest. However, there are Sea-Eagles passing, waiting for the opportunity to claim a mate or a territory, and a young adult male took on the parenting role until the chick fledged. Just after the chick fledged, the current male moved in and took up residence with our female.
In 2009, the current pair began nest renovation again and we installed our first camera. We were able to record nesting behaviour until that camera stopped working. Observations continued from the hide and from cameras on the ground. There were 2 chicks hatched, though one died early. The stronger eaglet grew to leave the nest, fledging in mid October. Again, it left the area later and we could not follow its progress.
In 2010, when nest renovation began again, we installed new cameras and were able for the first time to record behaviour at the nest for the whole breeding season. Two eggs hatched and both were reared successfully, taking their first flights in October. Both left the area in February 2011 and again, we cannot follow their progress.


Then in February 2011, the whole branch with the nest fell to the ground. We continued observations and recorded a new nest started in the same tree in May 2011. Cameras were installed again, with infra-red to allow filming at night and we continue to record their breeding behaviour. Eggs were laid in the beginning of July, a few days apart and the first chick hatched on Sunday 14 August, followed by the second the next day.

Geoff Hutchinson
Birds Australia
Sea-EagleCAM

Such a beautiful bird! Do we know if this in an infra-red camera? from here in BC this cam is 15 hours ahead of BC time.(it 1:53pm Saturday afternoon in Sydney as I type this

Quote by: terrytvgal

Such a beautiful bird! Do we know if this in an infra-red camera? from here in BC this cam is 15 hours ahead of BC time.(it 1:53pm Saturday afternoon in Sydney as I type this

11:45 pm PST now. Yes, the cam is infrared. It doesn't have sound though so I find it difficult to watch sometimes. I'm spoiled by the sound we get on these cams.

Poor parent. One was off the eggs around 11:42 pm PST and apparently before that and was looking around and doing a sea eagle screep and looking and looking but no one came. I think parent wanted a change over but the other one isn't coming back. Parent is still screeping back on eggs. The chatters on the ustream site aren't commenting about what is going on so I don't know if it really is about a change over but it doesn't appear to be that the parent is upset about a potential threat. When the eggs were first laid, I did see the parent sitting on them decide it wanted to change and just up and left. Don't think any of the bald eagles would do that with newly laid eggs.

Hey! Time to change!



Gosh darn &*#(@



Any day now!



Ah, now the chatters are indicating that Mom is not pleased that Dad is not returning.

11:50 PST I don't believe this. The other parent [Dad?]came with a fish as a peace offering, and then left. The one who has been sitting on the nest complaining, [Mom?] looks at the fish in claw, looks at the eggs, looks where the other parent went and took off. I missed the take off.

12:02 am and I didn't notice who came back but I'll take a wild guess and say Dad decided it was safe to return after Mom left with the fish.

I'm sorry. Here's a fish to make up.



I'm left with a fish and the eggs are uncovered.



She's gone. I'll sit now.

A few more scaps from the fish change over.

Why didn't you come when I called? I was getting this fish, see?



I wanted a change over not a fish.



I suppose I need a meal too.

Thank you so much for putting up a Sea Eagle topic!

Telling them apart. Here's what we know.....collected from various sources.

Mamma is approx. 25% bigger than dad. and he is a slightly darker shade of grey.
Her eyes are a bit slanted and she has several black feathers in middle of her tail feathers.

Dad has a cleaner line at back of neck where grey meets white.
He has lots more black tail feathers. Dad's beak is shorter than mums and has a dark tip.

Jono (eaglecam FB Admin) has followed Sea Eagles in the area for several years. Here is his take on the differences...(also has a great Flickr site with lots of pics)

"The male bird is slimmer in appearance, has a thinner neck and a smaller head. His head shape is quite distinct from the female's; he has a much rounder crown. His behaviour on the nest is different also - he is much more attentive to his surroundings than the female. The female is more likely to arrange a few sticks on the nest when she is sitting whereas the male is constantly looking around into the forest. The female has a larger patch of dappled white on her shoulders and has more feathers on her legs."


Daddy left, Mamma right



Mamma left, daddy right

courtesy of eaglecam photo album

This link to a story from last year provides some history on the pair.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conse ... 16p6j.html