Harpy eagle

The upperside of the harpy eagle is covered with slate-black feathers, and the underside is mostly white, except for the feathered tarsi, which are striped black. A broad black band across the upper breast separates the gray head from the white belly. The head is pale grey, and is crowned with a double crest. The upperside of the tail is black with three gray bands, while the underside of it is black with three white bands. The irises are gray or brown or red, the cere and bill are black or blackish and the tarsi and toes are yellow. The plumage of males and females is identical.

Distribution and habitat

Relatively rare and elusive throughout its range, the harpy eagle is found from southern México and south through Central America, into South America to as far south as Argentina. They can still be seen by tourists and locals in Costa Rica and Panamá. As their preferred habitat is rainforest, they nest and hunt predominantly in the emergent layer. The eagle is most common in Brazil, where it is found across the entire country. With the exception of some areas of the aforementioned Panamá and Costa Rica, the species is nearly extinct in Central America, likely due to the logging industry’s decimation of much of the Meso-American rainforests. Their habitat is expected to decline further due to climate change. The harpy eagle prefers tropical, lowland rainforests and may also choose to nest within such areas from the canopy to the emergent vegetation.

Behavior

Full grown harpy eagles are at the top of a food chain. They possess the largest talons of any living eagle and have been recorded as carrying prey weighing up to roughly half of their own body weight. This allows them to snatch from tree branches a live sloth and other large prey items. Most commonly, harpy eagles use perch hunting, in which they scan for prey activity while briefly perched between short flights from tree to tree. Upon spotting prey, the eagle quickly dives and grabs it. Sometimes, harpy eagles are "sit-and-wait" predators, perching for long periods on a high point near an opening, a river, or a salt lick, where many mammals go to attain nutrients.

In ideal habitats, nests would be fairly close together. In some parts of Panama and Guyana, active nests were located 3 km (1.9 mi) away from one another, while they are within 5 km (3.1 mi) of each other in Venezuela. In Peru, the average distance between nests was 7.4 km (4.6 mi) and the average area occupied by each breeding pairs was estimated at 4,300 ha (11,000 acres). In less ideal areas, with fragmented forest, breeding territories were estimated at 25 km (16 mi).

Conservation status

Harpia harpyja is currently listed as Near Threatened by BirdLife International. The population trend is declining due to habitat destruction, trophy shooting, and capture for the pet trade.