Harpy Eagle

Among the most powerful raptors on Earth, the Harpy Eagle hunts arboreal mammals — sloths, monkeys, and opossums account for more than 70 percent of its prey — plucking them from the rainforest canopy with one of the largest bills of any eagle. Slate-black above with a pale grey breast and white, black-barred underparts, it raises a distinctive split grey crest when alarmed. It requires large tracts of unbroken tropical lowland rainforest with tall emergent trees, where pairs raise young slowly: a clutch of two to three eggs is incubated for about 56 days, and fledging takes 135 to 180 days. Ranging from southern Mexico through Brazil and northern Argentina, its distribution is contracting with deforestation. Its vocalizations, mournful whistled screams near the nest, remain poorly documented. The species is classified as Vulnerable.