Favorite Images of Harpy Eagles

A list of my favorite images of harpy eagles.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpy_eagle

The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle.

The species name harpyja and the word harpy in the common name harpy eagle both come from Ancient Greek hárpuia (ἅρπυια). They refer to the Harpies of Ancient Greek mythology. These were wind spirits that took the dead to Hades, and were said to have a body like an eagle and the face of a human.

In Brazil, the harpy eagle is also known as royal-hawk (in Portuguese: gavião-real).

It is the largest and most powerful raptor found in the rainforest and among the largest extant species of eagles in the world.

It usually inhabits tropical lowland rainforests in the upper (emergent) canopy layer. Destruction of its natural habitat has caused it to vanish from many parts of its former range and it is nearly extirpated in Central America.

The upper side 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 upper side of the tail is black with three gray bands, while the underside of it is black with three white bands. The iris is 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 are identical. The tarsus is up to 13 cm (5.1 in) long.

Harpy eagles are 86.5–107 cm (2 ft 10 in–3 ft 6 in) long and have a wingspan of 176 to 224 cm (5 ft 9 in to 7 ft 4 in).

Female harpy eagles typically weigh 6 to 9 kg (13 to 20 lb). The male, in comparison, is much smaller and weighs only about 4 to 4.8 kg (8.8 to 10.6 lb).

The harpy eagle is an actively hunting carnivore and is an apex predator. Adults are near the top of a food chain but are preyed upon by jaguars. Its main prey are tree-dwelling mammals and a majority of the diet has been shown to focus on sloths and monkeys.