Mission : Endangered Species
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Mission : Endangered Species
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Harpy Eagle
Harpia Harpyja
Endangered: Animals whose numbers are so low, or whose habitat has been so badly destroyed, that they will become extinct if nothing is done. (IUCN) As an expedition of the world’s best explorers go hiking through the thick jungles of South America, a big bird catches the eye of one of the explorers. It is the rare and endangered harpy eagle, the world's most unknown bird. This bird is very interesting looking. This particular bird has an odd shape of feathers on its head. It can be up to 4 feet tall. The male weighs 10 to 16 pounds, and the female, being a little larger, weighs 14 to 18 pounds. The harpy eagle’s wingspan is about 7 feet. The harpy eagle has a gray head, gray wings, a black chest, and a white underside. It has a large black beak and massive yellow feet. Harpy eagles are raptors, which means it hunts live prey. It will eat monkeys, sloths, opossums, porcupines, lizards, and some other birds. The harpy eagle's range is anywhere from southwestern Mexico to Central and South America. It lives in the rain forest. It is getting rarer and rarer because of forest fragmentation, their nesting sites have been destroyed, and they are being shot. The harpy eagle only breeds every other year, then the female lays 2 eggs. However, only 1 egg hatches. It takes 53 to 56 days for the egg to hatch. The nests are built in tree crutches 100 to 120 feet high. No one knows how many harpy eagles there are in the world, but it is confirmed that 9 nests are in Guyana, 10 in Venezuela, and 8 in Panama.
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