The Harpy Eagle: Facts and Writing Prompts

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." Genesis 1:20-23 (KJV)

There are many different birds of prey – owls, falcons, hawks, vultures, and many more. I consider the harpy eagle to be the most terrifying of all of them. These powerful, majestic birds live mainly in the jungles of South America, along with other exotic animals and unusual plants. A few of them can even be found in parts of Central America and Mexico.

In Greek mythology, a Harpy is an insatiable and dirty monster that happens to have the head of a woman and the body of a bird. This bird was given its name by early South American explorers. I wonder what thoughts went through their heads when they saw this monstrous bird fly through the air above them, then swoop down and grab a monkey or a sloth right out of a tree. A bird that could kill an animal that large must have frightened and amazed them at the same time.

All eagles like to build their nests at high elevations and the harpy eagle is no exception. Their huge nests, four feet thick and five feet across, are found in the tops of the jungle's trees. That is large enough for a person to lay across. What are their nests made of? They build the outside of it with large sticks, then line the inside with soft vegetation and fur from animals.

With a wingspan of up to 7 feet, if one of these birds flew over your head, you would probably hit the ground for cover. The female is the larger of this species and can weigh up to 20 pounds. The slightly smaller male can weigh up to 11 pounds. This bird has long, sharp talons that would cause a grizzly bear to be envious and their feet are as large as a man's hand. They can exert enough pressure with their talons, which are up to five inches long, to crush the bones of any sloth, monkey, or other animal they capture. The legs of this powerful bird are as thick as the wrist of a small child.

Excellent eyesight helps these birds to spot potential prey that is hiding out in the trees. The national bird of Panama catches, kills, and eats big birds, coatis, iguanas, kinkajous, monkeys, opossums, parrots, sloths, snakes, tree porcupines, and young deer. Some old stories say that this massive bird has even taken children! Awesomely skilled fliers, they are able to maneuver quickly through trees and are quite capable of chasing down prey that is attempting to escape. They can only fly with prey that is half their own body weight, though. The female goes for the larger prey, leaving the smaller prey for the male.

Males and females are colored the same and they mate for life. The harpy eagle's feathers are dark gray with a white underside. Its neck has a band of black plumage around it and its head is crowned with gray feathers.

When the females lay eggs, they lay 1 to 2 of them. The first egg will hatch about 53-58 days later. The other egg is then ignored and doesn't hatch. Even though the second egg is just left alone, the parents will fiercely defend their nest and their young. So why does the female bother to lay two eggs if only the first one bird to hatch is paid attention to? The second one is seen as an insurance policy just in case something goes wrong with the first one. Only a single baby is desired. The newborn that hatches can look forward to reigning over and terrorizing the jungles for 25 to 35 years.

There aren't any natural predators for this bird, except man. Sometimes it is killed out of fear, sometimes it is killed for its feathers, but mostly it dies because its habitat is shrinking.

How can you, as a writer, use all of this information about this majestic bird? Early South American explorers were the ones who named this bird. One of your characters could be among these brave explorers. He or she could be the first one to see this humongous bird come swooping down out of the sky. How terrified was he? What kind of bird did he believe this to be? Did he follow the bird through the jungle or did he run and hide?

Your character could be one of group of hunters – hunters who were specifically hunting down this beatiful bird. The owner of a private zoo wants a family of these birds to put on display in his zoo. How hard is it for these guys to capture these birds? Do they even succeed?

Or you could write a story from an animal's point of view. Your character could be a harpy eagle, either a baby or an adult. Or your character could be one of the animals that it hunts as prey, say a monkey. He (or she) could have seen his father pulled right out a tree from the branch he was desperately holding onto. Now, this young child is determined to find the bird that killed his father. What kind of adventures does he have on his search? How many narrow escapes does he have hunting down his father's killer? And, if he does find that one bird, how wilheknow it is the right one? Was there some distinguishing mark on it?

What if a young lady is kidnapped and the ransom is one of these birds? And the bird has to be captured alive and delivered to the named destination healthy and in good condition.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about this magnificent bird and find a use for him in your creative writing exercises. If you have any more ideas for stories that would include a harpy eagle, please share them with the rest of us.