Both parents raise the offspring until they can make it independently before producing again.ĭeforestation and habitat loss are the most significant threats to the species. Male eagles do most hunting during the first months of the eaglet’s life while the female stays with the young. The egg is incubated alternately by both eagle parents for about sixty days. Once both claws are mutually approved, they build their nest together.Įach Philippine eagle brings materials until the nest is complete, and then copulation can begin. If receptive, the female will flip on her back midair to reveal hers. Courtship starts with the male chasing the female in the air. Female eagles mature at five years of age and males at seven. Once paired, Philippine eagles mate for life. Historically, giant Philippine eagles have been labeled as purely vicious, but their breeding customs seem contrary to this classification. While Philippine eagles occasionally eat monkeys, the local macaques are about equal in size to the eagles and, therefore, potentially dangerous prey. Their average diet includes flying lemurs, squirrels, fruit bats, rats, snakes, monitor lizards, owls, and hornbills. Sharp, powerful talons further assist in hunting.Īs apex predators, giant Philippine eagles help the rainforest ecosystem thrive by keeping mammal, lizard, and bird populations in check. Giant Philippine eagles have blue-grey eyes that see eight times more clearly than humans paired with a high-arching, bluish beak. The eagle’s back plumage has long, brown feathers with a white underside, and both colors surround its face. Still, the Philippine eagle ranges from 3.6 - 8.2 kilograms (8-18 lb). Only the harpy and Steller’s sea eagles outweighs the Philippine eagle in terms of mass. The giant Philippine eagle is the critically endangered Iconic Species of the Philippines & Sulu Sea Tropical Forests Bioregion ( IM15).Ĭonsidered the largest eagle in the world in terms of length and wing surface, the giant Philippine eagle averages one meter in height (3 ft) from the tip of its crown feathers to its tail. While monkey-eating is limited, the giant Philippine eagle does seem to be a creature straight out of folklore with an average wingspan of over two meters (7ft). In the humid rainforests that blanket the mountainsides of the Philippine islands lives what the natives of Bonga, Samar, call the ‘monkey-eating eagle.’ Legend has it that swooping through the thick mist is a bird as big as a man that preys upon the islands’ macaques. One Earth’s “Species of the Week” series highlights an iconic species that represents the unique biogeography of each of the 185 bioreg ions of the Earth.
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