Seeing it captivates the brain and the heart. It is so majestic and powerful, even its name has a mythological component; flying creatures with a woman's face and sharp talons. Yes, we are talking about the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja).
The second heaviest and longest eagle in the world has its playground in the jungles of Central and South America, feeding on arboreal mammals of these dense forests, especially sloths and monkeys.
Harpy eagle on nest in Tambopata
These mammals fear their huge claws, larger than those of a brown bear - they can reach a length of 13-14 cm! When people see them for the first time, a common question is: "Can they attack humans? Definitely not, but they could if they wanted to.
Today I want to tell my story about this magnificent dinosaur. She is the reason I am working in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. I say "she" because when you see her near the male, you understand who is in charge in that forever monogamous pair.
My name is Daniel Couceiro, I'm from Coruña, a small city in northwestern Spain, and I arrived to the Refugio Amazonas nine years ago as an assistant for a research project led by Dara Adams, PhD from Ohio University. My role consisted of spending 4 to 6 hours a day observing and taking data on the behavior of a pair of harpy eagles and their chick in a nest located 30 meters up in a Ironwood or shihuahuaco tree (Dipteryx micrantha) thanks to the Harpycam project.
Most of the time I was watching, recording, taking pictures and studying the behavior of this wonderful chick that I ended up calling "Jupiter" because the giant planet was clearly visible in the night sky during my stay in Tambopata.
They were, without a doubt, two of the most exciting months of my life as a biologist, and they convinced me to decide that I wanted to continue working here, in the heart of the Amazon.
It didn't matter if it was hot as hell, raining like the universal deluge, with a storm that made the trees fall apart and the sky look like doomsday, or a beautiful calm jungle day, we were both there every day. He was learning to fly by constantly spreading his wings, jumping from branch to branch and making small flights to a nearby tree; what animals he was going to prey on for the rest of his life (sometimes parents bring live prey for the chick to learn to hunt, thus etching the perfect image of his present and future food); and of course, growing and getting bigger and bigger.
Harpy eagle with chick
Meanwhile, I was there, growing as a biologist and thinking how lucky I was to be able to enjoy moments like this:
It wasn't just another wonderful day there, the perfect sight of a mother harpy eagle feeding her chick is something I'll never forget.
But hey, there's an end to everything. So, after a couple of months, I went back to Spain again. But the seed had been planted inside me.
By Daniel Couceiro
