![]() The nest is built on the trunk, at the location the branches separate. The nest can be found up to 40 metres high. ![]() They choose a partner for life, and these birds can get pretty old in the wild, 25 to 35 years old! A couple of harpy eagles build their nest in one of the tallest trees in the forest. Some meat of a few days old is not a problem for this bird! Therefore, a harpy eagle does not have to hunt every day.Ī harpy eagle is a monogamous bird. A harpy eagle has a strong gastrointestinal system with a high tolerance. Due to the temperature and the high humidity in the rainforest, a prey animal will quickly rot. A harpy eagle can feed on a prey for several days. If a prey is caught, it is taken to the nest or a high branch, where it is eaten. Because of the large claws, harpy eagles are even able to grab a jaguar, although a jaguar is often too big to get completely eaten. Sometimes the harpy eagle can also dive deeper towards the forest floor to catch prey such as a peccary, agouti or an armadillo. The diet consists mainly of animal species that live in trees such as monkeys, sloths, snakes, frogs and macaws. When the harpy eagle has spotted a prey, it dives down through the forest canopy. The facial disc that a harpy eagle has comes in handy to hear and locate prey. Few birds of prey, apart from owls, use their hearing when hunting. Because the forest is dark and little sunlight passes through the leaves, the harpy eagle depends, besides its eyesight, also on its hearing. It is not a species that actively searches for food. He can wait for hours at the top of a tree. The harpy eagle uses this tail to steer, like a rudder on a boat. On the other hand, its tail is very large. The wingspan appears pretty large but is relatively small for a bird this size. The main requirements for the habitat are food availability (prey), tall trees to build nests in and peace and tolerance of people.ĭuring the day a harpy hunts large prey in the tropical rainforest. Despite its preference for primary rainforest, the harpy is also found in well developed secondary rainforest and bushes in rural areas. Yet these animals have also been observed up to a height of 2000 metres above sea level. The habitat of the harpy eagle consists mainly of primary lowland rainforest up to a height of 900 metres above sea level. When the bird has its eyes closed, these gray eyelids are clearly visible and give a ghostlike appearance. Another special feature are the gray eyelids. The harpy eagle has a white belly, black dorsal side and wings and a black band on the front of the neck. When a harpy eagle unfolds the disc, it is better at capturing and locating a specific sound. This facial disc is comparable to the one that owls have and can also be unfolded and folded at will. ![]() They can lower and raise this crest at will. A harpy eagle has a light gray head and crest. Females, weighing between 6 and 9 kilograms, are larger compared to a male weighing between 4 and 6 kilograms. The harpy eagle itself has a body length between 86 and 107 centimetres and it has a wingspan between 176 and 224 centimetres, meaning its wingspan is usually larger than an adult person. You can imagine that this makes the harpy eagle is one of the strongest birds of prey in the world. The strength of a claw is comparable to the strength of a rottweiler's jaws. So a harpy eagle can pierce through meat and break bones quite easily. Sometimes, the rear claw of a harpy eagle can grow up to 13 centimetres centimetres long! A brown bear's claws are between 5 and 10 centimetres. The claws of a harpy eagle are on average between 7 and 10 centimetres. The claws are sometimes compared to those of a brown bear. They were dangerous creatures with large claws. The harpy is named after a Greek mythology, in which harpies were creatures with the body of a bird and the face of a female. Crested eagles are the largest bird of prey that occur in rainforests, moreover the harpy eagle is one of the largest crested eagles. The harpy eagle is a crested eagle and belongs to the Accipitridae family.
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