With a 6.5-foot wingspan, the Philippine eagle soars over forests where-in a country naturally free of leopards and tigers-the bird is top predator. It is unique to the Philippines, and known to live on just four of the country’s islands. With only around 500 pairs in existence, it is critically threatened, as its already depleted forest habitat shrinks ever further.
The Philippine eagle is one of the world’s three largest eagles (the others are the harpy eagle and Steller’s sea eagle). Adults’ steely bluish-grey bills are roughly the size of your hand (larger if you’re a child!); their claws could almost encircle your neck. The Philippine eagle is the only bird of prey with blue-grey-as opposed to yellow, orange or brown-eyes.
In the past, this species was known as the monkey-eating eagle – but while it can catch and eat monkeys, it mainly preys on rather smaller mammals. On Mindanao, flying lemurs are among its favored prey.
In 1995, the Philippine eagle was declared the country’s national bird. This was some help in conservation efforts; but the eagle was still highly threatened. Deforestation was the main reason. The Philippine eagle evolved in an archipelago with a higher percentage of rainforest cover than most countries in the world, yet much of this forest has been destroyed – by 1992, just 8.6 percent of old growth rainforest remained, and from 1990 to 2005 the country lost a third of its total forest cover. So nowadays, the eagles mainly survive in small parcels of forest, sometimes having to range over fields and barren landscapes to find food for themselves and their young.
Despite legal protection, some eagles are shot or trapped – perhaps as they’re thought to threaten livestock.
Though Birdlife International classes the Philippine eagle as critically endangered, there are some grounds for believing it can survive in the near future. Some protected areas help safeguard several pairs of breeding Philippine eagles Plus, there are conservation efforts, notably by the Philippine Eagle Foundation.
The Mindanao-based foundation is the only organization dedicated to taking action to protect the Philippine eagle. Its original focus was on breeding eagles in captivity – which initially proved extremely difficult, with the first captive born eagle, Pagasa, hatching in 1992. The foundation’s work has expanded, to include education, field research, giving small financial incentives to villagers who protect breeding eagles, and fostering agro-forestry. With agro-forestry, the aim is to protect and even expand forest cover, as villagers derive income from fruit trees such as durians, so don’t need to clear land for maize fields.
Such conservation efforts make the Philippine eagle a “flagship species”, rather like China’s giant panda. Just like the panda, the eagle needs large areas to survive – and protecting its forest home means also protecting a wealth of plants and animals.
This article was written by Martin Williams
Conservation Projects about Philippine Eagle
Philippine Eagle Foundation
Bring Back Ol’ Blue Eyes
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