Bird Size
With fully stretched wings the Wedge-tailed Eagle is bigger than a large basketball backboard (2.3 metres). The biggest of all eagles stands over a metre tall from its head to the tip of its tail.
Bird Features, Colours, Behaviours
Females are larger than the males but they have similar brown body colours that turn blackish as they get older. The back of their neck is a light ochre colour in the young though you can still see little bits of this colour as they age. The Wedgie’s whitish beaks are deadly powerful and so are their claws. These are used to catch small animals and also smaller birds like cockatoos while they are flying. They don’t have to flap their wings much when they find hot air up high to soar on. Their tail is shaped like a diamond (wedge-shaped).
Bird Social Behaviour
These guys can be found alone, in pairs and in families or larger mobs.
Language Area / Centre: Yugambeh
Bird name: Mibunn, Mibbun
Story: Mibunn is the protector of jagoon (country) and is a common totem for mob told in our creation story. Bugaban and Mibunn have been used interchangeably in a creation story for the Gold Coast which links Quandamooka (North Stradbroke Island), Mununjali (Beaudesert) and Upper Bundjalung (Northern Rivers NSW).
Knowledge from: Germaine Paulson
Knowledge origin: Mununjali