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The Harpy Eagle
The harpy eagle is one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. Its claws are the same size as a grizzly bear’s claws. Its wings stretch two meters (six feet) across. It can see much more than people can see.
Harpy eagles live in Central and South America. They are often found in the Amazon rainforest. Unlike some birds, the harpy eagle does not fly above the trees. Instead, harpy eagles fly between the trees of the forest. A forest is an area of land covered by trees.
They also build nests for their young high up in the tallest trees. The nests are sometimes made of up to 300 sticks and branches. They can be large enough to fit an adult human.
Forming Groups
Harpy eagles mate for life. This means that some harpy eagle pairs stay together for 30 years. They work together to raise their young.
The female harpy eagle lays one or two eggs. She then sits on the egg until it is ready to hatch. This usually takes about 55 days. During this time, the male harpy eagle hunts. He brings back the food he catches to the nest to feed the female. Once the egg hatches, this food will also feed the baby harpy eagle.
Working together helps the harpy eagles get food. They can also help each other defend their nest from predators. A predator is an animal that eats other animals. Animals that get eaten by other animals are called prey.
Not all animals mate for life. Some kinds of animals form larger groups. For example, ants form colonies where each ant has a job. Some ants get food for the colony. Some protect the colony. Some build tunnels. Others raise the young.
A Healthy Ecosystem
Scientists study harpy eagles because they are predators at the top of the food chain. Harpy eagles are carnivores. They consume many different kinds of animals. They eat monkeys, sloths, iguanas, large rodents, and other birds.
Scientists study harpy eagles. The eagles are part of an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of different organisms that depend on interacting with each other and their physical environment for survival. All of the different parts of an ecosystem depend on one another. A biome can be made up of many smaller ecosystems.
In the Amazon rainforest, the ecosystem includes all of the producers, consumers, and decomposers in the food web. It also includes nonliving parts. Nonliving parts include oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It also includes water and energy from the sun.
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