The harpy eagle is one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. Its body is about 89 to 102 centimeters (35 to 40 inches) long, and its wings can spread up to about 2 meters (6.5 feet) from tip to tip. A female weighs up to about 9 kilograms (20 pounds), and a male weighs about 9 to 11 pounds, much less than a female. The Los Angeles Zoo says females are up to 50 percent larger than males.

How big are a harpy eagle's claws? Its back claws are about as big as a grizzly bear's claws. A back talon is up to about 5 inches (12.5 to 13 centimeters) long, as reported by zoos and a university museum. Reported lengths of the rear talon differ. The Peregrine Fund says about 3 to 4 inches, while a wildlife magazine gives the hind claw as up to 7 cm.

A harpy eagle has relatively short wings, which help it steer between trees in thick forest. It can fly between trees and branches with great skill for such a big bird, and it can fly low, below the tops of the trees, to look for prey. A harpy eagle is not built for true soaring. It is reported to reach speeds of about 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) in a serious chase. The page that reports this does not say how it was measured. Harpy eagles travel relatively slowly from tree to tree through the forest when they hunt.

A harpy eagle has a ring of feathers around its face, like an owl. Harpy eagles share a facial disk with owls, but are one of only a few daytime birds of prey to have one. The disk can be lifted or lowered at will. It may focus sound waves to improve hearing, similar to owls. In the dark interior of the rainforest, hearing is more important to the harpy eagle than vision. A harpy eagle also has sharp eyesight. It is reported to see something less than 1 inch (2 centimeters) in size, according to the San Diego Zoo.

Sloths and monkeys are the main foods of the harpy eagle. It also eats opossums and iguanas. Harpy eagles do not need to eat every day. They can go a week or more without food. A harpy eagle needs a territory of about 30 square kilometers for hunting, according to the Animal Diversity Web.

Harpy eagles build their nests in some of the tallest trees in the forest, about 27 to 43 meters (90 to 140 feet) above the ground. A nest is built of woven sticks lined with soft plants and animal fur, and more than 300 branches go into one.

A female harpy eagle lays one or two eggs, but usually only one chick grows up. The egg takes about 55 days to hatch. A newly hatched nestling is so small that it fits in the palm of a person's hand. The chick is all white and does not get its full adult coloring until its third year. Both parents care for the chick for about 10 months, and a young eagle first leaves the nest at about five to seven months old. A harpy eagle lives about 25 to 35 years.

Harpy eagles once lived in forests from southern Mexico through Central and South America. They have disappeared from much of their former range, mostly because forests were cut down and people hunted them. The Belize Zoo says harpy eagles are considered locally extinct in most of Mexico, Guatemala and the Pacific side of Central America, as of November 2026. As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List lists the harpy eagle as Vulnerable, a species facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

In Belize, harpy eagles are found only in the Maya Mountains. The largest known breeding population of harpy eagles is in Panama, close to the border with Colombia. The harpy eagle is Panama's national bird and a flagship species for its rain forests.

Words to know

• territory: claimed area
• nestling: baby bird
• soaring: gliding on air
• extinct: gone forever