Philippine Eagle

The Philippine Eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi, also known as the Great Philippine Eagle or Monkey-eating Eagle, is among the tallest, rarest, largest, and most powerful birds in the world. A bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae, it is also known as "Haribon" or "Haring Ibon," which means "Bird King". Its local name is banog.[2]

The species was discovered in 1896 by the English explorer and naturalist John Whitehead, who observed the bird and whose servant, Juan, collected the first specimen a few weeks later.[3] The skin of the bird was sent to William Robert Ogilvie-Grant in London in 1896, who initially showed it off in a local restaurant and described the species a few weeks later.[4]




Upon its discovery, the Philippine Eagle was first called the monkey-eating eagle because of reports from natives of Bonga, Samar [1] where the species was first discovered that it preyed exclusively on monkeys; from these reports it gained its generic name, from the Greek pithecus ("ape or monkey") and phagus ("eater of").[5] The specific name commemorates Jeffery Whitehead, the father of John Whitehead.[4] Later studies revealed, however, that the alleged monkey-eating eagle also ate other animals such as colugo, civets, large snakes, monitor lizards, and even large birds like hornbills. This, coupled with the fact that the same name applied to the African Crowned Hawk-eagle and the South American Harpy Eagle, resulted in a presidential proclamation to change its name to Philippine Eagle in 1978, and in 1995 was declared a national emblem. This species has no recognized subspecies.[6]

Evolution in the Philippine islands, without other predators, made the eagles the dominant hunter in the Philippine forests. Each breeding pair requires a large home range (of 25 to 50 square miles) to successfully raise a chick, and thus the species is extremely vulnerable to the regularly occurring deforestation.

 The species' flight is fast and agile, resembling the smaller hawks more than similar large birds of prey.[14]

Life expectancy for a wild eagle is estimated to be anywhere from 30 to 60 years. A captive Philippine Eagle lived for more than 41 years in a zoo in Rome.[15] However, it is believed that wild birds on average live shorter than captive birds.[15]