Harpy Eagle - San Diego Zoo Animal Bytes

Harpy Eagle
San Diego Zoo Animal Bytes

Range: southern Mexico to northern Argentina
Habitat: rain forests

Rain forest take-out
The powerful harpy eagle is fast and agile, flying low over the forest and using its great talons to snatch up monkeys and sloths that can weigh up to 17 pounds (7.7 kilograms)! Harpies also feed on opossums, porcupines, young deer, snakes, and iguanas. Heavier prey is taken to a stump or low branch and partially eaten, since it is too heavy to be carried whole to the nest. Most of their food is found in the rain forest canopy and understory instead of on the forest floor. The larger females tend to take the sloths and monkeys; the smaller, more agile, faster males tend to take more quantities of the smaller food items. This increases the pair's odds of eating on a regular basis. Here at the San Diego Zoo, the harpy eagles are fed thawed rodents and rabbits.

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