Just saw the film. Very beautiful and informative. A few questions, however: Do harpies use the same nest year after year…I’m supposing that they do based on my work with other large birds of prey (ospreys and bald eagles). If they do, has there been any followup as to whether the adult birds returned to the nest for a future nesting cycle. The disturbance generated to produce this film was pretty intense and I hope the birds will return to use this site in the future. And let me say that the camera in the nest concerns me not at all. Generally, all living creatures easily accept machines as there is no instinctive fear of machines. But humans in the nest during nesting season is another story. Maybe time was limited and the disturbance could not be helped, but it would have been nice if the camera could have been installed during the non-nesting season. Of course, that brings me back to my question of nest site fidelity. If the birds are less site specific, then my concerns are unfounded. If they are typically more site specific, then it would be very interesting to know if the birds continued to use that site. (If they are more tolerant than other birds of prey concerning human-generated nest disturbance I have my theories as to why they might be that way, but that is irrelevant to the questions presented here.) If followup visits have been made, I would be very interested to know what was observed. Thank you. Mark Westall (founder of The International Osprey Foundation and past chairman of the Lee County (Florida) Bald Eagle Technical Advisory Committee.

Superb job of filming! We’re definitely in the big leagues, these days. All of a sudden we are seeing “life stories” of snow leopards, Amur leopards, wolverines, Harpy eagles! I groan when I think of the creature “discomforts” endured to capture these images/stories!
The extra mile is gone when we can palpably appreciate intriguing ecological facts, like the group spacings of howler monkeys to place the predator at a disadvantage. And the deliberate actions to defer taking capuchin monkeys in the vicinity of the nest to provide a break during learning trials to play a role as predator.
I, too, get a view into primate behavior. If humans were to live in the presence (we once did!) predatory “takings” by larger animals, there would be a dedicated campaign to eliminate the danger. The howlers and capuchins do not appear to live in a state of continual terror (at being taken, at any moment), ie, it is a question of brain development — “they do not have the capacity to be self aware such that they could contemplate their own fate”? YES!

why is there a leather band around the birds leg pictured above?

@Juno

Most likely it’s a falconers bird. They’re called Jesses and are used in conjunction with tethers and leashes to help control a bird when it’s on a gauntlet in training.

It could also be a bird undergoing rehabilitation, same reason for wearing them.

If the bird is able to be released back into the wild the jesses will be cut off before returning it.

기사주셔서 감사합니다.

I really hope they didn’t capture this bird… they should let it be free and let it live its wonderful life out there in the world. It deserves to have a life like we humans do. It should not have to suffer and sit there in a fake habitat. It does not deserve to live in a cage