Crested eagle

Share

A powerful predator, its diet consist mainly of small mammals, rodents, snakes and smaller birds.

  • Binomial name

    Morphnus guianensis

  • Phylum

    Chordata

  • Order

    Accipitriformes

  • Family

    Accipitridae

  • Length

    71-89 cm

  • Wingspan

    138-176 cm

  • Weight

    1.75-3.0 kg

This species often overlaps in range with the less scarce Harpy eagle, which is likely its close relative and is somewhat similar to appearance. There is evidence of an interesting interspecific relationship between and adult Crested eagle feeding a juvenile Harpy eagle in Panama, while the adult Harpy eagles were away. During these interactions, the Crested eagle brought new nesting material to the nest and in occasions brought food to the juvenile Harpy eagle.

Distribution and habitat

It is sparsely distributed throughout its extensive range from northern Guatemala through Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the subtropical Andes of Colombia, northeastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil (where it has suffered greatly from habitat destruction, being now found practically only in the Amazonian basin), and east Andean Ecuador, southeastern Peru, Paraguay and eastern Bolivia to north Argentina.

The crested eagle lives in humid lowland forests, mostly comprised by old growth tropical rainforests. They can also range in gallery strips and forest ravines. Over most of the range, sightings of the species are from sea level to 600 m (2,000 ft). However, in the Andean countries, they appear to be local residents in foothill forests up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation or even 1,600 m (5,200 ft). They may show some predilection to be near water, including coasts or rivers.

Ecology

The crested eagle seems to be a still-hunter, as it has been observed perched for long periods of time while visual scanning the forest around them. The crested eagle may avoid direct competition with the harpy eagle by taking generally smaller prey. However, the crested eagle is certainly a powerful avian predator in its own right and most studies have indicated they are primarily a predator of small mammals. Often reflected in the diet are small monkeys, such as capuchin monkeys, tamarins, and woolly monkeys. Data from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil indicates that small-to-mid-sized monkeys appear to be focused on, either adults of small monkeys like squirrel monkeys and tamarins or small and young specimens of larger species like white-faced sakis and red-faced spider monkeys, with the monkeys attacked estimated to usually weigh from 0.3 to 3 kg (0.66 to 6.61 lb).

Various studies have also pointed to the abundance of snakes (both arboreal and terrestrial varieties with several instances of predation on boas reported) and other reptiles (principally lizards including iguanas) in its prey base, but the relative frequency of different types of prey apparently varies greatly on the individual level and reptiles appear to take a secondary position to mammals. It will also predate on tree frogs. Birds may comprise a larger portion of the diet for crested than they do for harpy eagles.

Conservation status

The crested eagle has always seemed to occur at low densities and may occasionally elude detection in areas where they do occur. Though they still have a large distribution, they are currently classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN. The total population of breeding adults is estimated to be only between 1000 and 10,000 individuals. Due to their seemingly high dependence on sprawling forest, they are highly affected by habitat destruction. Tropical forests such as the Amazon are so heavily degraded and logged that they are thought to be unable to sustainably support most forest-dwelling raptors native to them. The crested eagle is believed to no longer occur in several former breeding areas where extensive forest have been cleared.