Harpy eagle
| Harpy eagle Temporal range: Holocene - Recent | |
|---|---|
| At the Parque das Aves in the Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Subfamily: | Harpiinae |
| Genus: | Harpia Vieillot, 1816 |
| Species: | H. harpyja |
| Binomial name | |
| Harpia harpyja | |
| The harpy eagle is rare throughout its range, which extends from Mexico to Brazil (throughout its territory) and Argentina (only the north). (note: map distribution in Trinidad and Tobago and ABC islands is erroneous) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the largest and most powerful bird of prey found throughout its range, and among the largest extant species of eagles in the world. It usually inhabits tropical lowland rainforests in the upper (emergent) canopy layer. Destruction of its natural habitat has caused it to vanish from many parts of its former range, and it is nearly extirpated from much of Central America. In Brazil, the harpy eagle is also known as royal-hawk (in Portuguese: gavião-real). The genus Harpia, together with Harpyopsis, Macheiramphus and Morphnus, form the subfamily Harpiinae.