The Research Files: Harpy Eagle

As we all know... research is a critical component of any story. As writers, we spend hours reading, watching, asking and absorbing (yes, I just love those gerunds)... now, sometimes we carry too much of that research with us and put a little too much into the story.

Sean likes Harpy Eagles... and they are pretty awesome. I'd thought I'd share some of what I've learned... after all, if Sean knows all about them - I need to as well.

- The Harpy Eagle stands over 3 feet tall.

- Wingspan can reach seven feet

- Females are quite larger than males (some reports say twice as large, others say three times)

- The Harpy Eagle talons are the longer than a grizzly bears

- They eat monkeys, sloths (their tasty treat), and sometimes - small antelope

- They can exert several hundred pounds of pressure with their talons

- They have a chick every two to three years and don't reach sexually maturity until four or five

- They are threatened

- The Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama

- Latin name: Harpia Harpyja from Harpe (don't we all recall the harpies from mythology?)

What is threatening the Harpy Eagle? Deforestation