Gurney's Eagle, Aquila gurneyi, is a large eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

 in the family Accipitridae. It is found on New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and adjacent smaller islands.

Description

This eagle is a fairly large species, though mid-sized as a member of the Aquila genus. It is mainly dark brown to black, with paler undersides to its flight feathers and a rounded tail. Its body length is 74–86 cm (29.1–33.9 in) with a wingspan of between 1.65 and 1.9 m (5.4 and 6.2 ft). One immature bird reportedly weighed 3.06 kg (6.7 lb). Females are larger than males. Its wings are held level when gliding. It feeds on mammals such as cuscus

Cuscus

Cuscus is the common name generally given to the species within the four genera of Australasian possum:* Ailurops* Phalanger* Spilocuscus* Strigocuscus...

es.

Range and habitat

Gurney's Eagle is found in New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and adjacent islands westwards to the Moluccas. It has been recorded from Saibai and Boigu islands in north-western Torres Strait

Torres Strait

The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...

, thus putting it on the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n bird list. it inhabits rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

, swamp forest, and adjacent cultivated and coastal areas.

Conservation

Gurney's Eagle occurs at low population densities and is likely to be declining slowly through habitat loss and degradation. Considered to be Near Threatened

Near Threatened

Near Threatened is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status...

. Listed on CITES Appendix II.