Harpy (bird)
| harpy | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harpy eagle ( Harpia harpyja ), male |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||
| Harpia | ||||||||||
| Vieillot , 1816 | ||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||
| Harpia harpyja | ||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Harpy Eagle ( Harpia harpyja ) (debate [haʁpʰyːjə]) is a very large, powerfully built birds of prey art . The species lives in the tropical forests of Central and South America, where it feeds primarily on sloths and monkeys . The genus Harpia is monotypical with the harpy as the only species.
description
The harpy is one of the largest birds of prey in the world and is arguably the physically strongest bird of prey. The trunk is extremely strong, the wings are relatively short and very wide, the tail, however, is relatively long. The build and color of the harpy eagle are typical of birds of prey that live in the forest and hunt fast and relatively large prey there, and are found in a very similar form, for example, in the hawk and the sparrowhawk . The harpy is an extreme of its type in terms of size and weight.
It reaches a body length of 89 to 110 cm and a wingspan of 1.76 to 2.01 m. The gender dimorphism in terms of height and weight is very large. Males weigh 4.0 to 4.8 kg and have a wing length of 543 to 580 mm, females reach a weight of 6.0 to 9.0 kg and a wing length of 583 to 626 mm. Legs, toes and claws are extremely strong, the rear claw can be up to seven centimeters long.
The plumage is black on the back and chest, white on the belly, the tail is also black with three broad gray horizontal bands and a narrow gray end band. The tail-coverts and the fletching of the legs (the so-called trousers ) are white with dark gray transverse bands. The head is gray; The broad, double-headed head of feathers on the back of the head, which is raised when excited, is striking . The iris is light gray-brown to gray, wax skin and beak are black-gray. The legs and toes are pale yellow, the claws are black.
distribution
The distribution area of the harpy stretches from southern Mexico across all of Central America and northern and central South America to southern Brazil and northeast Argentina . In this large area the harpy inhabits the subtropical forests and the tropical rainforests of the flat and hill country up to about 900 m altitude, locally also up to 2000 m altitude.
nutrition
The build of the harpy makes it possible to hunt animals in the densely overgrown treetops of the rainforest. The harpy hunts primarily mammals such as sloths and monkeys , and more rarely other species such as agoutis , coatis and possums . In addition, a wide range of larger vertebrates is used, at least occasionally, including larger birds , lizards and snakes . The prey is killed with the extraordinarily strong toes and claws.
The weight of the prey animals is significantly lower in males than in females, males prey animals weighing 0.5 to 2.3 kg, females animals with a weight of 2.7 to 9 kg. Prey animals with a weight of over one kilogram (males) or over four kilograms (females) are cut up and transported in parts to the nest.
Reproduction
The nest is built at heights of 25 to 55 m in the crown of dominant trees, e.g. B. in kapok trees or in American mahogany trees . The eyrie measures approx. 1.2 to 1.5 m in diameter and 0.6 to 1.2 m in height. The clutch consists of one to three white eggs and is incubated almost exclusively by the female. The breeding season is about 56 days. As soon as the first cub has hatched, the other eggs are no longer incubated, they die. Only one young bird is raised at a time.
The young bird is guarded by the female until it is around 70 days old. The male provides the young and the female with food during this time. During the breeding season the male brings prey about every seven days, while rearing the young about every 3.5 days. When the young bird is over 70 days old, the female also hunts. It then receives a prey approximately every 2.5 days. After five to six months, the young bird fledglings and only after another eight to ten months independent. They only become sexually mature when they are four years old. Due to the long phase in which the young birds are dependent on their parents, harpies only breed about every two years.
Danger
In the medium term, the harpy is threatened primarily by the destruction of its habitat, especially by slash and burn, and direct hunting. Due to its large space requirements, it is nowhere to be found frequently and, due to its low reproduction rate, can only very slowly compensate for losses caused by hunting. The harpy can survive in a landscape that has been severely fragmented by clearing, as long as the remaining forest islands are large enough; here, however, it is particularly endangered by hunting. In the long term, it will probably only survive if it is possible to protect sufficiently large areas of the tropical rainforest. The harpy is listed in the Red List of Endangered Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN) as a type of early warning list ( Near Threatened ).
Origin of the name
The name harpy is borrowed from Greek mythology. The harpies of the Greeks were the bird-like demons of the storm. They had the body of a bird of prey, a woman's head, and bird wings. They were terrible monsters that stole food and children. Harpy can be translated as Rafferin .
literature
- NL Rettig: Breeding behavior of the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja). In: Auk. 95, 1978, pp. 629-643. (online as PDF)
- J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, ISBN 0-7136-8026-1 .
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Harpia harpyja in the Internet Bird Collection
Individual evidence
- ↑ F. Weick, LH Brown: The birds of prey of the world. Birds of Prey of the World. A colored guide to determining the order of Falconiformes. Parey, 1980, ISBN 3-490-08618-X .
- ↑ Harpia harpyja in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2009. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on March 11 of 2010.