The Harpy Eagle's name references the harpies from Ancient Greek mythology. These were wind spirits that took the dead to Hades, and were said to have a body like an eagle and the face of a human.

Venezuela (2007) 10 Bolivares (back) - Harpy Eagle

The American Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a neotropical eagle, often simply called the Harpy Eagle. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Vultur harpyja. It is the only member of the genus Harpia.

It is the largest and most powerful eagle found in the Americas, usually inhabiting tropical lowland rainforests in the upper (emergent) canopy layer.

The Harpy Eagle is arguably the bulkiest eagle still living; however, the Philippine Eagle is the only living eagle to surpass it in size. The extinct Haast's Eagle of New Zealand was almost 50% larger.

The Harpy Eagle’s back is covered with slate black feathers and the undercarriage is coated with white. There is a black band across the chest going up to the neck. Its head is pale grey and is crowned with a double crest. This colouring gives it a fearsome look, to match its menacing reputation. Due to living in the rainforest it has short wings used for speed, it also has sharp claws which are great for catching its prey. The Harpy Eagle is one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world; it can grow to be a huge length of 36-40inches (mostly the females of this species). It can reach a weight of 20 pounds and is relatively half the height of an average-sized human.

Female Harpy Eagles average at 100-110 cm (3.3 feet) long with a 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) wingspan and typically weigh from 6.5 kg to 8 kg (14 lb to 18 lb). One exceptional captive female, "Jezebel", weighed 12.3 kg (26 lb)[3]. Only the Philippine Eagle and the Steller's Sea Eagle approach similar dimensions. The male, in comparison, weighs only about 3.8 kg to 5.4 kg (8.5 lb to 12 lb)

The Harpy Eagle is dark grey overall, with an ash-grey head, and white belly. Both sexes possess an erectile crest of long feathers. The talons are up to 13 cm (5 in) long, longer than a Grizzly Bear's claws.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "American Harpy Eagle"