Harpy eagles are beautiful birds that live from the Mexican Yucatan south, through Amazon Rain Forest, and into Argentina. Harpy eagles are named after harpies, the winged creatures with the faces of women, according to Greek myth, that would swoop down and snatch men, as the eagles do to small primates. These birds can grow to 26 lbs in weight, and have a wingspan of about seven feet. They live almost exclusively in dense jungle, nesting high in the trees, and feeding primarily on mammals, such as monkeys, opossums, and sloths, but they will also snatch iguanas and other birds from the trees.
Harpy Eagle Behavior and Distribution
Harpy eagles are tremendous birds that grip jungle mammals with their five-inch talons, and carry them to the safety of trees to consume them. These eagles are similar in appearance and behavior to Philippine eagles, also known as monkey-eating eagles, which are the only eagles to surpass harpies in size. Harpy eagles are truly majestic birds, which have always had an ability to avoid frequent interaction with humans, but the birds are getting rarer. Although they still thrive in most of the inland parts of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Guatemala, and south through Central America and Northern south America, the eagles are threatened in much of Brazil, which accounts for about two thirds of their habitable environment.
Nesting
Harpy eagles nest high in some of the tallest trees in the rainforest, in tremendous nests of sticks. Female eagles lay either one or two eggs, but almost never raise more than a single chick. When one egg hatches (which usually takes place between 55 and 58 days after it is laid, according to the Peregrine Fund, an organization concerned with the conservation of birds of prey), the mother will usually ignore the second egg (if there were two), and stop incubating it, to focus on the chick. The parents will feed the bird by regurgitating meat from prey, which is easier for the chick to digest, for several months. After nearly six months, the chick will fledge, and begin living on its own.
Habitat Destruction
These birds require large habitats, and the recent devastation of rainforests in many parts of Brazil, by loggers, has taken a tremendous toll on the already-scarce eagles. Not only does deforestation destroy the natural habitat of these birds, but it causes their prey to move further into remote locations, forcing the eagles to do the same. Harpy eagles prefer large areas of continuous forest, so even moderate logging in some areas will often force the eagles to retreat, minimizing their habitable environment.
If environmental depletion continues to occur in the Amazon at its current rate, it will not be long before these majestic eagles will cease to live in much of their current South American habitat. Although harpy eagles are extremely powerful and resilient birds, they require large habitats of uninterrupted rainforest, and these expanses of forest are becoming fewer.
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