Crested Eagle
| Crested Eagle | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Morphnus Dumont, 1816 |
| Species: | M. guianensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Morphnus guianensis (Daudin, 1800) | |
The Crested Eagle (Morphnus guianensis) is a large Neotropical eagle. It is the only member of the genus Morphnus. It is 71–89 cm (28–35 in) long and has a wingspan of 138–176 cm (55–70 in). Males are reported to weigh 1.75–3 kg (3.9–6.6 lbs), while females are about 10-20% larger.
It is sparsely distributed throughout its extensive range from Guatemala through Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua,Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana,Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil (where it has suffered greatly from habitat destruction,being now found practically only in the Amazonian basin), and east Andean Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia to northArgentina. It often overlaps in range with the less scarceHarpy Eagle, which is likely its close relative and is somewhat similar to appearance, though the Crested Eagle is half that species' bulk and avoids competition by taking generally smaller prey. It's possibly more of a predator of birds than the Harpy, but it also hunts small mammals such as capuchin monkeys and tamarins. Various studies have also pointed to the abundance of snakes and other reptiles in its prey base, but the relative frequency of different types of prey apparently varies greatly on the individual level.
No comments:
Post a Comment