Philippine Eagle

The **Philippine eagle** (*Pithecophaga jefferyi*), also known as the **monkey-eating eagle** or **great Philippine eagle**, is an eagle of the family Accipitridae endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has brown- and white-coloured plumage, and a shaggy crest, and generally measures 86 to 102 cm (2.82 to 3.35 ft) in length and weighs 4.7 to 8.0 kg (10.4 to 17.6 lb). It is considered the largest of the extant eagles in the world in terms of length and wing surface, with Steller's sea eagle and the harpy eaglebeing larger in terms of weight and bulk. Among the rarest and most powerful birds in the world, it has been declared the Philippine national bird. It is critically endangered, mainly due to massive loss of habitat resulting from deforestation in most of its range. Killing a Philippine eagle is punishable under Philippine law up to 12 years in prison and heavy fines.

## Description

The Philippine eagle's nape is adorned with long, brown feathers that form a shaggy, manelike crest. The eagle has a dark face and a creamy-brown nape and crown. The back of the Philippine eagle is dark brown, while the underside and underwings are white. The heavy legs are yellow, with large, powerful, dark claws, and the prominent, large, high-arched, deep beak is a bluish-gray. The eagle's eyes are blue-gray. Juveniles are similar to adults except their upperpart feathers have pale fringes.

The Philippine eagle is typically reported as measuring 86–102 cm (2 ft 10 in–3 ft 4 in) in total length, but a survey of several specimens from some of the largest natural history collections in the world found the average was 95 cm (3 ft 1 in) for males and 105 cm (3 ft 5 in) for females. Based on the latter measurements, this makes it the longest extant species of eagle, as the average for the female equals the maximum reported for the harpy eagle and Steller's sea eagle. The longest Philippine eagle reported anywhere and the longest eagle outside of the extinct Haast's eagle is a specimen from Field Museum of Natural History with a length of 112 cm (3 ft 8 in), but it had been kept in captivity so may not represent the wild individuals due to differences in the food availability. The level of sexual dimorphism in size is not certain, but the male is believed to be typically about 10% smaller than the female, and this is supported by the average length provided for males and females in one source. In many of the other large eagle species, the size difference between adult females and males can exceed 20%. For adult Philippine eagles, the complete weight range has been reported as 4.7 to 8.0 kg (10.4 to 17.6 lb), while others have found the average was somewhat lower than the above range would indicate, at 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) for males and 6.0 kg (13.2 lb) for females. One male (age not specified) was found to weigh 4.04 kg (8.9 lb). The Philippine eagle has a wingspan of 184 to 220 cm (6 ft 0 in to 7 ft 3 in) and a wing chord length of 57.4–61.4 cm (22.6–24.2 in). The maximum reported weight is surpassed by two other eagles (the harpy and Steller's sea eagles) and the wings are shorter than large eagles of open country (such as the white-tailed eagle, Steller's sea eagle, martial eagle, or wedge-tailed eagle), but are quite broad. The tarsus of the Philippine eagle ties as the longest of any eagle from 12.2 to 14.5 cm (4.8 to 5.7 in) long, which is about the same length as that of the much smaller but relatively long-legged New Guinea eagle. The very large but laterally compressed bill rivals the size of Steller's sea eagle's as the largest bill for an extant eagle. Its bill averages 7.22 cm (2.84 in) in length from the gape. The tail is fairly long at 42–45.3 cm (16.5–17.8 in), while another source lists a tail length of 50 cm (20 in).

The most frequently heard noises made by the Philippine eagle are loud, high-pitched whistles ending with inflections in pitch. Additionally, juveniles have been known to beg for food by a series of high-pitched calls.

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