Albay Junior Eagles Club

The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is one of the rarest, largest and most powerful birds in the world. This bird of prey, or raptor, belongs to the family Accipitridae. It is also known as "Haribon" or "Haring Ibon," meaning "Bird King."

This eagle's head is adorned with long brown feathers that give it the appearance of a lion's mane. The upperside of the Philippine Eagle is brown, the underside white. This average female is about 1 meter (3.3 feet) long, weighs about 7 kg (15.5 lb), and has a wingspan of 2 meters (6.7 feet). This makes the Philippine Eagle one of the world's largest eagles with the largest wing surface area. The Harpy Eagle and Steller's Sea Eagle are about the same size as this species. The adult male is about 10-20% smaller and averages at about 5 kg (11 lbs). The life expectancy for the Philippine Eagle is around 30-60 years.

Ecology, behavior and life history

Like most eagles the Philippine Eagle is monogamous. A couple remains together for a lifetime. The nest is normally built on an emergent dipterocarp, that may be nearly 3 metres across and about 30 m above the ground. The female lays one egg. The parents will care for the egg and the young for twenty months, so they may breed only every other year.

Philippine Eagles food habits vary from island to island it inhabit, the food habits of Philippine Eagles in Luzon have a different preference with the eagles in Mindanao. Because of the difference in terms of the faunal composition of Luzon and Mindanao, them representing different faunal regions, the eagles there would definitely have a different diet regime. For example, flying lemurs, which are the preferred prey in Mindanao, are absent in Luzon.

Etymology and taxonomic history

The scientific name commemorates Jeffery Whitehead, father of the English explorer and naturalist John Whitehead, who collected the original specimen.

Upon discovery in 1896, it was first called the Monkey-eating Eagle, based on reports from natives that it preyed exclusively on monkeys (hence its generic name, from the Greek pithecus ("ape or monkey") and phagus ("eater (of)") . Later studies revealed, however, that they also prey on other animals such as colugo, civets, large snakes, monitor lizards, and even large birds like hornbills. This, and the fact that the same name applied to the African Crowned Hawk-eagle and the South American Harpy Eagle resulted in a presidential proclamation to change its name to Philippine Eagle.