But if its distinct appearance isn’t impressive enough, its height and wingspan certainly are.
Its incredible size and unique appearance have made the harpy eagle quite a popular figure on the internet.
Photographs of the large eagle often pop up onReddit, where people marvel at its size.
Photo: Clément Jacquardvia Wikimedia Commons(CC BY-SA 2.0)
Despite its overall large size, its wingspan is a bit shorter than some other eagles due to habitat.
These rare birds live in the upper canopy of tropical lowland rainforests from Mexico to Brazil and northern Argentina.
Still, the harpy eagle remains the largest extant eagle in the world.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom eakglory/Shutterstock
If the harpy eagle’s goth look wasn’t fearsome enough, take note of its powerful talons.
The rear talons are bigger than a grizzly bear’s claws and measure 5 inches in length.
In fact, no other eagle has talons so large.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom worldswildlifewonders/Shutterstock
They will also feast on opossums, porcupines, and snakes.
They rarely soar long distances.
The loss of this apex predator in some environments is a huge blow to the ecosystem.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom Alfredo Maiquez/Shutterstock
For instance, their hunting of animals like capuchin monkeys helps keep the populations in check naturally.
In 1989, thePeregrine Fundstarted a conservation effort to help save the species.
Nearly 50 Harpy eagles were released into the wild in Panama and Belize during the course of the program.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom Chepe Nicoli/Shutterstock
By doing so, they hope to gather more information on how to protect the species.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom Thorsten Spoerlein/Shutterstock
Photo:Stock Photosfrom guentermanaus/Shutterstock
