White-Bellied Sea Eagle
Se27
BIO
SE27 is a juvenile White-bellied sea eagle, who hatched and fledged from an established nest located in Sydney
Olympic Park in Homebush, Australia. This nest has been monitored closely since 2009, by EagleCAM, an approved research project run by BirdLife Australia, operating a live video feed of the sea eagle family.
Unfortunately, she experienced multiple challenges during her fledging period, and was taken into care to undergo a rehabilitation process that eventually allowed her free flight and the development of hunting skills in a large circular aviary, without the threat of interference from local corvids.
To monitor her progress after her release, SE27 was fitted with a tail-mounted solar-powered satellite tracker to allow us all to watch how she established herself in the wild.
Having previously experienced difficulties surviving in her urban parkland natal territory, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service gave permission for her to be released in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, roughly 40km from the nest in Sydney Olympic Park. Juvenile and adult white-bellied sea-eagles are frequently sighted in this area. SE27’s sibling, SE21, had also undergone rehabilitation in 2018-2019, using similar techniques, and had been sighted a year later in this area.
SE27
In the first week after her release on the 1st April 2022, SE27 immediately headed north. With a south-westerly tailwind, she travelled north-east to the Central Coast, and spent a week exploring the Wyong Creek and Jilliby Jilliby Creek valleys, before making herself at home around the shores of Tuggerah Lake near The Entrance.
For three months, SE27 lived, roosted and hunted around the shores of Tuggerah Lake in the south, gradually moving north into Lake Macquarie. It is likely she honed her fishing skills here, and learnt how to live alongside human activity around coastal waters.
In late August, she ventured further north, moving inland around the urban centre of Newcastle, settling into the Hunter Wetlands National Park. Throughout spring and leading into summer, SE27 ranged widely across this region, which is rich in National Parks and Conservation Areas. She spent weeks travelling up the Karuah River (we know she discovered the chicken farms in this area) and back down to its mouth. She travelled inland more, following smaller rivers and creeks, and spent a lot of time exploring the inland lakes and dams south of Maitland.
In late December, the tracker stopped moving. We were locate it, contact the property owner, and with his help, retrieve the device. Happily, the tracker was still attached to a tail feather, with no signs of distress or foul play - it had merely become detached when SE27 moulted her tail feathers, as it is designed to do. The property owner's daughter informed us that the area is known as a gathering place for sea-eagles due to the plentiful food - SE27 had also spent time in this region thee months earlier!
SE27's travels suggest she is both a capable hunter, fisher and sometime scavenger, and has learn how to utilise many different landscapes for shelter and food. She has explored this region widely, and appears to have particular areas that she likes to come back to time and time again. From a struggling fledgling, she's grown into a capable young adult. We hope she finds a mate in the next year or two and establishes a territory in which to breed.
JOURNEY
ARCC Inc’s satellite tracking projects aim to monitor birds of prey after release from rehabilitation, to collect data on post-rehabilitation dispersal, behaviour and survival, which can then feedback to and inform rehabilitation processes and protocols. The rehabilitation story does not end at release – we need to know if our rehabilitation techniques ensure these birds not only survive, but thrive.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We recognise and appreciate the traditional significance and cultural roles birds of prey play in the lives of our First Nations people.