Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the tail wedged or cuneate: noting birds whose tail-feathers are regularly graduated in length to such an extent that the tail when moderately spread appears to be beveled off obliquely at the end from the middle to the outermost feather on each side. It is a very common formation. See cuts under Sphenocercus, Sphenura, Triehoglossus, and Uroaëtus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Zoöl.) Having a tail which has the middle pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under wood.
  • adjective an Australian eagle (Aquila audax) which feeds on various small species of kangaroos, and on lambs; -- called also mountain eagle, bold eagle, and eagle hawk.
  • adjective an arctic gull (Rhodostethia rosea) in which the plumage is tinged with rose; -- called also Ross's gull.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • High up, a wedge-tailed eagle circles, scanning the sea for scraps of forgotten lunch.

    Kangaroo Dreaming Steve Himmer 2011

  • Late last year he was with a mate inspecting crop damage caused by rabbits when they spotted three wedge-tailed eagles circling the paddock.

    Archive 2008-02-01 2008

  • On the opposite bank, in the top of a river red gum, a pair of wedge-tailed eagles were nesting, seizing the advantage of the mass of birds and animals flocking to the river.

    Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

  • On the opposite bank, in the top of a river red gum, a pair of wedge-tailed eagles were nesting, seizing the advantage of the mass of birds and animals flocking to the river.

    Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

  • Raptors recorded from the area include the wedge-tailed eagle Aquila audax and a number of owls.

    Greater Blue Mountains Area, Australia 2009

  • Other important species breeding within the preserve include Kermadec petrel Pterodroma neglecta, black-winged petrel P. nigripennis, wedge-tailed shearwater Puffinus pacificus, little shearwater P. assimilis, white-bellied storm petrel Fregetta grallaria, masked booby Sula dactylatra, red-tailed tropic bird Phaeton rubricauda in greater concentrations than probably anywhere else in the world.

    Lord Howe Island Group, Australia 2008

  • Birds that frequent high elevations include Richard's pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), flame robin (Petroica phoenicea), little raven (Corvus mellori), and wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax).

    Australian Alps montane grasslands 2008

  • The majority of these islands have been heavily disturbed by military activities and phosphate mining though the area does includes some of the largest seabird colonies in the world, including millions of sooty terns and wedge-tailed shearwaters.

    Central Polynesian tropical moist forests 2007

  • The following birds utilize a variety of habitats, including eucalypt woodlands: a subspecies of wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax fleayi), Tasmanian native hen (Gallinula mortierii), Tasmanian thornbill (Acanthiza ewingii), and yellow wattlebird (Anthochaera paradoxa).

    Tasmanian Central Highland forests 2007

  • The great wedge-tailed eagle (eagle-hawk) is a rare visitor, and is not a fisher.

    My Tropic Isle 2003

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