Talk:American Harpy Eagle
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This species is described as lower concern in the taxobox, endangered in the text. jimfbleak 05:58, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Man-eating?
I deleted the 'man-eating' description (refering to Haast's Eagle), since I could find no evidence that this species actually preyed on humans. Tjunier 23:37, 4 January 2006 (UTC) hi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.164.236.52 (talk) 21:21, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Largest eagle?
I edited the "largest eagle" because of the following phrase as quoted, "Only the Philippine Eagle and the Steller's Sea Eagle approach similar dimensions. The male, in comparison, weighs only about 10.5 lb (4.75 kg).and the fact that the Philippine eagle had surpass it in size.
The word, "most powerful eagle" is still debatable or can be reputed; It it more safer to claimed as "one of the most powerful eagles".
The largest prey recorded of the Harpy eagles is a red howler monkey that weighs about 15 lbs.
Here are some Eagle species largest prey records; (Which the bird take and carry-off)
Bald eagle lifting a 6.8 kg or 15 lbs mule deer. http://www.birding.com/birdrecords1.asp
The Golden Eagle takes a small mountain sheep or goat and carry off to it's nest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4irYqe5yjcE
The Philippine Eagle largest documented prey is a 14 kg or 30.8 lbs. Philippine cervus deer at a nest studied by Kennedy in 1985;
http://birdbase.hokkaido-ies.go.jp/r...n/pithjeff.pdf (ECOLOGY pp14-16)
- Saying "the bulkiest and one of the most powerful eagle in the world" would look very bad, so I put "perhaps". What do you think??
189.70.39.11 21:55, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
They don't appreciate the word "perhaps" as it was edited before:
"The talons are up to 13 cm (5 in) long, longer than a Grizzly Bear's claws "perhaps" the most powerful of any raptorial birds."
He commented saying this is not a "guesspedia" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Informaticz (talk • contribs) 07:30, 30 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Length
The Harpy Eagle on average, does not even reached the 1-meter mark or 100 cm in total length at least based on the comparison measurements study made by Blas R. Tabaranza Jr. and It looks like Male Philippine eagles are even longer than female Harpy eagles.(Male Eagles are relatively smaller than female Eagles)
Source:http://www.haribon.org.ph/?q=node/view/117 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Inputlogs (talk • contribs) 11:47, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
- Ferguson-Lees et al. (see link from "talon size") had the Harpy Eagle at 89–102 cm and the Philippine at 90–100 cm; whereas The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Birds – The Definitive Guide to Birds of the World (Perrins 1990) had them at 91–110 cm and 86–102 cm, respectively. Perrins's range for the Phillippine Eagle is the most commonly used I've seen (BirdLife International for example), and is very agreeable with its weight range (4.7–8 kg); on the other hand his range for the Harpy Eagle is rather generous compared to most sources. As a source I would consider Ferguson-Lees far superior of the two. It should be noted that compared to the Harpy Eagle's vast weight range (4–9 kg for both sexes), both length ranges seem quite narrow.
- But if we are in search of the longest eagle, Wedge-tailed Eagle (85–106 cm) and Steller's Sea Eagle (85–105 cm) have the strongest claim for the title; though all four seem to have a similar average. It seems unlikely that any eagle exceeds 100 cm in average length.
- --Anshelm '77 (talk) 19:21, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
Philippine eagle is clearly averaging a little over a 100 cm mark in length; If you will look the Haribon.org data [1] Haribon measures 940 - 1121 mm (112.1 cm) averaging 1.021 meter in length (112.1 cm or 44 inches probably the longest (Philippine) eagle specimen = with a tag from Brookfield zoo FMNH # 224493 January 11, 1959) also from another link [2] Philippine eagle 90-100 cm in length, 110 cm of which the longest specimen measured. I beleive it really depends on the specimen available however the comparison measurements study made by Blas R. Tabaranza Jr. is just a simple method in getting the average measurements.
For size comparison:[3]
The data/links above proves that (Philippine eagle) exceeds the 100 cm in length.
[edit] Talon size
13 cm is gross exaggeration that probably originates from confusion with tarsus length (114–130 mm, Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001). Note that the spike-like claw of Southern Cassowary (image), longest among extant bird species, reaches 12 cm; while the Harpy Eagle's hindlaw in truth measures up to 7 cm – the largest among raptors and (very likely) extant flying birds. This text has hallux claw mesurements from 57 to 65 mm (with 119–145 mm tarsus).
Here is an image of a Harpy Eagle's talon next to those of other species (left to right: Harpy Eagle, Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk and Peregrine Falcon). Compare this with 64.75 mm for the Harpy Eagle and 55 m for the Golden Eagle (can reach c60 mm) at haribon.org (see cache if that doesn't open). I've measured a White-tailed Eagle's hindclaw's outer curve at 61 mm myself; it's a slightly larger (3.1–6.9 kg) species than Golden (2.8–6.7 kg) or Bald Eagle (2.5–6.3 kg).
I suppose this exaggeration easily escapes notice, as not all realize that the difference between identically proportioned 6 and 7 cm claws is nearly 60 % in volume. Between 7 and 13 cm the difference is 540 %.
An image of a preserved Harpy Eagle's foot. A replica on Bone Clones, with a length of 3 in (76 mm) for the whole digit.
--Anshelm '77 (talk) 20:03, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
I think you're right 13 cm long talons will be less effective in carrying a large prey, these talon or claws work much like the human hands, imagine if we have a 13 cm or 5 inches long finger nails? It would be hard to hold, they will be too long and unstable in holding large prey. 3 inches is more likely. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Informaticz (talk • contribs) 06:07, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
