| PHILIPPINE EAGLE (Pithecophaga jefferyi)
Family Accipitridae: Kites, Hawks, and Eagles
|
| Description: 76 cm. Highly arched, powerful bill. Crown and
crest yellowish with brown shaft streaks; upperparts rich brown with pale
edges to feathers; tail dark brown with blackish bars and a white tip;
underparts gray white; thighs buffy with brown shaft stripes. Bill bluish
and feet yellow.
Distribution and habits: Very scarce on Luzon, Mindanao, Samar and Leyte; absent elsewhere; endemic. Inhabits mountain forests or the clearings of lowland forest. Soars above the forest canopy although most of its time is spent hidden in the forest. Its food consists mostly of large snakes, hornbills, civet cats, monkeys and flying lemurs. Nests in large trees on natural platforms some 30 meters off the ground. In danger of extinction because of deforestation and human persecution. From Birds of the Philippines by P. C. Gonzales and C. P. Rees, 1988, Haribon Foundation.
|
