The American Harpy Eagle

The American Harpy Eagle, Harpia harpyja, is a neotropical eagle, often simply called the Harpy Eagle. It is the only member of the genus Harpia.

It is the largest and most powerful eagle found in the Americas, usually inhabiting tropical lowland rainforests in the emergent layer.

Female Harpy Eagles are 100-110 cm (3 ft 3 in) long with a 200 cm (6 ft 7 in.) wingspan and average 7.5 kg (16.5 lb). Exceptional females have weighed over 9 kg (20 lb) and one captive female, "Jezebel", weighed 12.3 kg (26 lb). Only the Philippine Eagle and the Steller's Sea Eagle approach similar dimensions. The male, in comparison, weighs only about 4.75 kg (10.5 lb). It is dark grey overall, with an ash-grey head, and white belly. Both sexes possess an erectile crest of long feathers. The talons are up to 13 cm (5 in.) long.

This species is an actively hunting carnivore. Its main prey items are tree-dwelling mammals such as monkeys, coatis and sloths; it may also attack other bird species. The talons are extremely powerful, perhaps the most powerful of any raptorial bird. It can be aggressive towards humans who disturb its nesting sites or appear to be a threat to its young.

A pair of Harpy Eagles lays two white eggs in a large stick nest high in a tree, and raise one chick every 2-3 years. After the first chick hatches the second egg is ignored and fails to hatch. The chick fledges in 6 months, but the parents continue to feed it for another 6-10 months.

The Harpy Eagle is threatened by logging and hunting throughout its range, in large parts of which the bird has become a transient sight only: in Brazil, it was all but totally wiped out from the Atlantic rainforest and is only found in numbers in the most remore parts of the Amazon basin.Harpia harpyja is on the IUCN red list of endangered species.. It is considered by the Peregrine Fund as a "conservation dependent species", depending on strong measures for captive breeding and release in the wild in order to prevent its reaching endangered status.
(Wikipedia)