Wedge-tailed Eagle

SCI Name:  Aquila audax
Protonym:  Vultur audax Suppl.ind.orn. p.ii
Taxonomy:  Accipitriformes / Accipitridae / Aquila
Taxonomy Code:  weteag1
Type Locality:  New South Wales.
Author:  Latham
Publish Year:  1801
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AQUILA
(Accipitridae; † Golden Eagle A. chrysaetos) L. aquila  eagle  ?<  aquilus  dark-coloured; the Golden Eagle was the emblem of the Roman legions, whose standards or eagles bore the likeness of an eagle with raised wings; "Aquila. Genus 9.  ...  Genus Aquilinum ...  Digiti quatuor, membranis destituti; tres scilicet antici, posticus unus; omnes circiter usque ad exortum discreti: Crura ad calcaneum usque plumosa: Rostrum breve, primum rectum, dein aduncum; ad basin cute nuda tectum: Caput plumosum.  ...  **1. L'AIGLE  ...  AQUILA." (Brisson 1760): based on "Aquila" of many previous authors; "Aquila Brisson, Orn., 1, 1760, p. 28, 419.  Type, by tautonymy, Aquila Brisson = Falco chrysaëtos Linné." (Peters, 1931, I, p. 253).
Var. Aquilla, Aquilo.   
Synon. Aetos, Aetus, Afraetus, Cassinaetus, Chrysaetus, Euaquila, Micraetus, Morphnaetos, Psammoaetus, Pteroaetus, Taphaetus, Uroaetus.

aquila
L. aquila  eagle  ?<  aquilus  dark-coloured.
● "XIII. AIGLE COMMUN.   FALCO AQUILA.  ...  Aquila Valeria. ARISTOTE, Hist. anim.  Falco fulvus. LINNÉ, Syst. nat.  Chrysaëtos, cauda albo cincta. RAY, Syn.  ...  En Tartarie on leur apprend à chasser les lièvres, les renards et même les loups" (Daudin 1800) (syn. Aquila chrysaetos).
● "66. PELECANUS.  ...  Aquilus.  2. P. cauda forficata, corpore nigro, capite abdomineque albis. Amœn. acad. 4. p. . .   Pelecanus Aquilus. Osb. iter. 292.  Alcyon major pulla, cauda pulla, cauda longiore bifurca. Brown jam. 483.  Cari pira Laët. amer. 575.  Man of var.[sic] Sloan. jam. I. p. 30.  Avis Rabo focardo. Pet. gaz. t. 45. f. 1.?  Frigate bird. Alb. av. 3. p. 75. t. 80. male.  Habitat in Insula Adscensionis aliisque pelagicis, vitam agens Diomedeæ exulis, cui similis." (Linnaeus 1758); from the very sharp, eagle-like bill of the Ascension Frigatebird (Fregata).

audax
L. audax, audacis bold < audere to be daring.
● ex “Bold Vulture” of Latham 1801 (Aquila).
● ex “Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 453, fig. 2, “Caudec” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Yellow-crowned Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myiodynastes maculatus).

SUBSPECIES

Wedge-tailed Eagle (audax)
SCI Name: Aquila audax audax
audax
L. audax, audacis bold < audere to be daring.
● ex “Bold Vulture” of Latham 1801 (Aquila).
● ex “Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 453, fig. 2, “Caudec” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Yellow-crowned Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myiodynastes maculatus).

Wedge-tailed Eagle (fleayi)
SCI Name: Aquila audax fleayi
fleayi / fleayii
David Fleay (1907-1993) Australian zoologist, pioneer in breeding endangered species, co-founder of Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (subsp. Aquila audax).