Harpy Eagle

April 22, 2000, is Earth day throughout the world. One nation that has a goal for the year 2000 and the future and will work diligently to accomplish it is Panama. The National Bird of Panama is the Harpy Eagle. The Harpy Eagle is an endangered species because of its decline in Panama.

What caused the decrease in population of the Harpy eagle? Man in his stupidity and run for the dollar caused the decline of the Harpy Eagle by forest sectioning, devastation of nesting sites, and shooting. It is an endangered species because poachers killed this magnificent bird. Man shot the eagle for its feathers, destroyed their nests and took away their habitat while logging sections of their environment. By destroying part of the rain forest you take away nesting sites for this beautiful bird causing it to be on the endangered species list. It is one of the most prominent eagles and it is in real danger of extinction Panama. Birders calculated there are no more than 10 individual birds left in the national territory. The Harpy Eagle became very scarce and there are few registries in Veracruz, Chiapas and Campeche.

Its exact population is unknown but very rare. Since 1992, wild life managers confirmed nine nests in Guyana, ten in Venezuela, and eight in Panama. We need to do everything we can to help it.

The Harpy, one of the largest eagles in the world stands for power. It can weigh up to 20 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 7 feet. It has talons as big as a grizzly bears and its feet are as big as a man's hand. The Harpy Eagle is black or brown on the top and white on the bottom. A black belt, wide on the chest separates its gray head from the rest of the white body and has a gray tail. The female Harpy Eagle is much larger than the male weighing roughly 50% more. It is an enormous, robust, black and white eagle. The feather on its head makes it look like an owl because of a notorious crest divided in two.

After mating the eagles make large nest of sticks over the cover of the forest, 100 - 120 feet high on the crutch of the first branch of the tallest emergent trees. Then the female usually lays two eggs.

The incubation period is bout fifty-five days for the egg to hatch. Only one chick hatches, although the female eagle lays two eggs. This species may have the longest rearing period of any raptor. Two or three years may pass between the production of a chick and the next nesting attempt.

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