Sea-Eagle Study Information

Study Information about Sydney Olympic Park

White-bellied Sea-Eagles

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There has been a White-bellied Sea-Eagle (WBSE) nest in the Newington Nature Reserve, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia 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. The first recorded young in the nest was in 2003. In 2004, a pair of WBSE built a nest in a Grey Mangrove tree on the banks of the Parramatta River. The female was sitting on eggs, which were expected to hatch in a few days, when she died. Soon after the male was also found dead, nearby in the river. Tests were conducted and it was probable that both died from the some unknown cause.

Because of the results of the tests and the close proximity of Homebush Bay which had high levels of contaminates, that a closer study should be conducted on the breeding success of these WBSE.

Volunteers from BirdLife Australia, Southern NSW formed a research team and formulated a program to closely monitor the breeding habits and the food that is feed to the chicks. The method chosen was to install CCTV cameras close to the nest and record all this video for review. It was proposed that there would be no physical contact with the Adult Eagles or the Chicks, but unfortunately external man made occurrence in 2012 caused a situation where intervention was necessary.

Over the years eagles were reported, but not nesting in the Sydney Olympic Park area, until 2008, when the previous female (2008-2015) nested successfully. Nest renovation and egg laying was observed and photographed from a hide nearby. The first year that the study started using CCTV cameras was 2009.

EagleCAM Researchers: Judy Harrington, Geoff Hutchinson & Jon Irvine.

Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank Sydney Olympic Park Authority and National Parks & Wildlife for allowing us access to this nest and their generous assistance.
We would also like to thank BirdLife Australia for allowing us to display EagleCAM at the Discovery Centre.

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Click on a Heading or a Graph to go to that years data

Click here to see a chart of Chick/Egg numbering
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