Crested eagle
| Crested eagle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Perched in a tree eating an emerald tree boa in Bolivia | |
| 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 sparsely distributed throughout its extensive range from northern Guatemala through Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the subtropical Andes of Colombia, northeastern 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, southeastern Peru, Paraguay and eastern Bolivia to north Argentina.
The crested eagle lives in humid lowland forests, mostly comprised by tropical rainforests. They can also range in gallery strips and forest ravines. Over most of the range, sightings of the species are from sea-level to 600 m (2,000 ft). However, in the Andean countries, they appear to be local residents in foothill forests up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation or even 1,600 m (5,200 ft).
This species is a large but slender eagle. It measures 71–89 cm (28–35 in) long and has a wingspan of 138–176 cm (55–70 in). A small handful of crested eagles have been weighed, entirely either males or unsexed birds, and have scaled from 1.3 to 3 kg (2.9 to 6.6 lb). Standard measurements have indicated females are about 14% larger on average than males.
The crested eagle has a large head, an effect enhanced by the often extended feather crest of its name. It has bare legs, with a sizable tarsus length of 10.3 to 11.2 cm (4.1 to 4.4 in). The tail is fairly long, measuring 34 to 43 cm (13 to 17 in) in length. The wings are quite short for the eagle's size but are broad and rounded. Forest-dwelling raptors often have a relatively small wingspan in order to enable movement within the dense, twisted forest environments. The wing chord measures 42.5–48.5 cm (16.7–19.1 in). The plumage of the crested eagle is somewhat variable. The head, back and chest of most adults are light brownish-gray, with a white throat and a dark spot on the crest and a small dark mask across the eyes. There are also various dark morphs where the plumage is sooty-gray or just blackish in some cases. The distinctive juvenile crested eagle is white on the head and chest, with a marbled-gray coloration on the back and wings. They turn to a sandy-gray color in the second year of life. Dark morph juveniles are similar but are dark brownish-gray from an early age. In flight, crested eagles are all pale below except for the grayish coloration on the chest.
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Wikipedia