Harpy eagle Facts for Kids
Harpia harpyja · HAR-pee-uh har-PY-uh
A huge gray rainforest eagle with a crest on its head.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ 11 to 20 lb5 to 9 kg1
- 📏 35 in to 3.3 ft89 cm to 1 m1 long
- 🎂 25 to 35 years25 to 35 years1
- 🍽️ meat
- Needs help (Vulnerable)
A harpy eagle is a huge bird of prey with a crest on its head. It lives high up in the rainforest. It eats sloths and monkeys.
Harpy eagles live in the treetops of tropical lowland rainforest, from southern Mexico down through Central and South America. Their main foods are sloths and monkeys. They also eat lizards and birds.
The harpy eagle is one of the biggest eagles. It lives in the treetops of tropical lowland rainforest, from southern Mexico through Central and South America to northern Argentina. Its main foods are sloths and monkeys, and it sometimes eats lizards, birds and small rodents. A harpy eagle can live for many years in the wild.
How big is a harpy eagle?
Harpy eagle in numbers
| Length | 35 in to 3.3 ft89 cm to 1 m1body length |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 11 to 20 lb5 to 9 kg1males and females; average |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | 25 to 35 years25 to 35 years1estimated, in the wild |
| What it eats | sloths and monkeys, and sometimes lizards and birds |
| Where it lives | the treetops of tropical lowland rainforest from southern Mexico to northern Argentina |
| What kind | Birds |
| Is it in danger? | Needs help (Vulnerable)2 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- A harpy eagle lives high in the rainforest treetops.
- Its main foods are sloths and monkeys.
- It has a crest of feathers on its head.
Compare the harpy eagle
Friends and neighbours
Three-toed sloth
Scarlet macaw
JaguarThree questions
Books about the harpy eagle, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the harpy eagle for free.
For teachers
Use this animal in class: its facts are on this page, and the cards print from it.
Where these numbers come from
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Harpia harpyja (harpy eagle), checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, Harpy eagle (Q53745), checked 30 October 2026.