Welcome to You Ask Andy

Danny Carlow, age 10, of Indian River, Ontario, Canada, for his question:

Is there an eagle called a harpy?

The mighty eagles are fierce birds of prey. Those who live in North America are handsome, lordly birds, but some of their cousins who live in the tropics look like frightful nightmares. One of these is the harpy eagle, named for a monster of mythology. True, the beaks and claws of our eagles look like dangerous weapons and so they are. What's more, our eagles tend to stare with a threatening glare. But compared with their harpy cousin they look like rather gentle birds.

In ancient times, people believed that the world was haunted by all sorts of imaginary creatures. Nobody ever saw a unicorn, but most people believed that this legendary creature really existed. They were even more certain about a number of terrifying creatures, although these did not exist either. One of the worst of these was an impossible monster called a harpy. Nobody ever saw a harpy but everyone agreed that it had the body of a fierce bird and its head looked somewhat like a wild and cruel woman's. They also agreed that the fearful harpy snatched away bodies and punished people by swooping down to grab their food.

Gradually mankind grew out of such childish terrors and gave up believing in bogeyman monsters that never existed. But they remembered these old mythical monsters. When people of Europe began to explore the tropical jungles of the New World, they discovered an eagle that reminded them of the mythical harpy.

Naturally they named him the harpy eagle. He is indeed a fearsome looking fellow and he does look somewhat like the impossible harpy was supposed to look. Perched on a jungle bough, the mighty bird measures three feet or more from head to tail.. His back and wings are dark, his vest and pantaloons are pearly grey    and all this plumage is speckled. His fearsome face is very pale and he glares at the world through a pair of frightfully fierce eyes. His mighty beak hooks down like a huge, dagger sharp nose. As if this face is not scary enough, the harpy also wears a pair of feathery tufts that look. like horns.

It is not surprising that the harpy eagle is the terror of his neighborhood. When he swoops down from his high perch, all the animals in the jungle scuttle to safety.

No other bird of prey has such strong legs. When he swoops, he is almost sure to grab a monkey or some other animal in his claws and carry the victim aloft to his nest. He also captures sloths and large jungle birds.

The harpy eagle is indeed a fearsome bird. But nature has a useful place for him in her plans. Most animals multiply fast and their teeming youngsters need lots of food. If all of them survived, there would be famine in the jungle. Harpy eagles and other meat eating animals help to keep the monkey and other populations within bounds. As a rule, they capture the careless ones and the more sensible creatures escape.

 

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