Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja)

• Type: Bird
• Family: Accipitridae
• Habitat: Tropical rainforest
• Location: Central and South America, from Southern Mexico to Northern Argentinia, though rare in their northern range
• Diet: Arboreal mammals, monkeys, sloths, porcupines, opossums, reptiles, and large birds
• Average lifespan in the wild: 30-50 years
• Size: Length 35-41.3 in (89-105 cm); wingspan 6.5 ft (1.98 m)
• Weight: 16.8-19.8 lbs (7.6-9 kg) for females; 8.8-10.6 lbs (4-4.8 kg) for males

Harpy eagles hunt during the day, and their prey includes monkeys, sloths, porcupines, and other forest mammals. Because they do most of their hunting in the rainforest canopy, they also prey on iguanas, snakes, and large parrots. When in pursuit of a meal, harpy eagles can reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. This powerful hunter only eats freshly caught meat, and it brings its catch back to the nest to share with its mate and offspring. If the catch is too big to carry back to the nest, a harpy will eat what it can at the capture spot and bring home the more manageable leftovers. Harpy eagles are known to hunt creatures as large as themselves, and sometimes even larger.

Like all eagles, the harpy has evolved extraordinary eyesight. Eagle eyes are enormous, taking up a large portion of their skull. They are almost too large to move side-to-side with only their eye muscles, so instead the eagle rotates its head (up to 270˚) as it scans the horizon for prey. This frequent head movement may seem like a burden, but its fixed eyes actually allow the eagle’s vision to be more precise. Because their eye muscles barely move, eagles can focus on small and far away objects.

Harpy eagles prefer to roost in prominent trees, especially silk-cotton trees, and they make their nests 90-140 ft above the forest floor. Nests, which can measure up to five feet across, are built from sticks and lined with softer materials like green leaves and seedpods. Some offspring return as adults to the same trees in which they were reared to build their own nests.

The harpy eagle has an incubation period of 56 days. Harpy eagles are monogamous and breed every other year. The female may lay a clutch of two eggs, but will only incubate the first, and the pair will only rear one offspring.

Harpy eagles were once common from Southern Mexico to Northern Argentinia, but deforestation, poaching, and loss of habitat has taken its toll on the species. These magnificent birds are now listed as near threatened. They are increasingly rare in the northern range of their habitat and can no longer be found in many areas where they once lived. With only one offspring being produced every two or three years it is very difficult for harpy eagle populations to bounce back.

Breeding and reintroduction programs have been set up in both Panama and Belize to increase wild harpy eagle populations. At the Neotropical Raptor Center (NRC) in Panama, crews from the Peregrine Fund have found success increasing numbers of harpy eagle offspring by fooling the eagles into laying more than one clutch per breeding seasons. When a clutch is laid, the eggs are left under the female for 12-18 days of natural incubation. At that time, the crew removes the eggs from the nest and places them in artificial incubation, where the eggs will develop and hatch. The removal of the eggs prompts the eagle pair to lay another clutch or two during the same breeding season.  In nature, a harpy eagle pair produces only one chick each year. In the Peregrine Fund’s successful program, a single pair of harpy eagles may produce as many as six fertile eggs in a season.

Did you know: Harpy eagle talons are as large as grizzly bear claws.

Photo by www.birdphotos.com