Silver Ounce 2019 Wildlife Up Close - Wedge Tailed Eagle, Coin from Niue - detailed information

Niue, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. The New Zealand Dollar is the circulation currency for daily transactions, while the government also authorises legal tender coins in the Niue Dollar currency for collector's purposes.

A number of mints issue a large variety of commemorative, bullion and collector coins under the authority of Niue. These coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes - typically, one ounce of silver (abbreviated as 1 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum). Many of these feature various animals.

The Wedge-Tailed Eagle coin is the first design in the Wildlife Up Close series of proof coins.

The Wedge-Tailed Eagle has a noble bearing. It has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and of course, its unmistakable wedge-shaped tail. Because of both its tail and its size (it is one of the largest birds of prey in the entire world), it can be identified at a glance as a "Wedgie" even by a non-expert.

The subspecies from Tasmania (Aquila audax fleayi) is listed as endangered by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), with fewer than 200 pairs left in the wild. Like the Thylacine, the eagle was once subject to a bounty in Tasmania, as it was believed to prey on livestock. Decreasing numbers of Tasmanian Devils may be beneficial to the Wedge-Tailed Eagles in Tasmania, as it could reduce competition for roadkill and devil predation on young eagles.

The Wedge-Tailed Eagle nests in a range of old-growth native forests. Nests always occur in tall open forests. 95% of nests occur in emergent trees in old-growth eucalyptus forests. Wedgies usually pair for life. When courting and pair-bonding, the pair performs aerial displays. Courtship usually starts in June and by August the nest is ready for an egg. One or, less commonly, two, eggs are laid. Eggs are whitish-gray with a few brown spots. The period from hatching to fledging lasts 90 days, by which age a chick can feed itself. After fledging the juvenile remains near the nest for several weeks.

Wedge-Tailed Eagles are highly aerial, soaring for hours on end without wingbeat or effort, regularly reaching 6,000 feet (1,800 meters), and sometimes considerably higher. The purpose of this very high flight is unknown. Their keen eyesight extends into the infrared and ultraviolet bands. This helps them spot prey and allows them to see rising thermals, which they can use to gain altitude while expending little energy.

Most prey is captured on the ground in gliding attacks or (less frequently) in the air. Choice of prey is very much a matter of convenience and opportunity: since the arrival of Europeans, the introduced rabbit and brown hare have become the primary items of the eagle's diet in many areas. The Wedge-Tails can eat almost anything of a suitable size, live-caught or as carrion.

Wedgies display considerable adaptability, and have sometimes been known to team up to hunt animals as large as the Red Kangaroo, to cause goats to fall off steep hillsides and injure themselves, or to drive flocks of sheep or kangaroos to isolate a weaker animal.