CreatureData

Crested eagle

Morphnus guianensis (Daudin, 1800)

NTNear Threatenedbirds of prey

The crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 1.75 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis)
Photo: Alex Lee · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the crested eagle

Weight
1.75 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.38 m – 1.54 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
1 – 2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the crested eagle?

CRESTED EAGLE · WINGSPAN 1.54 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.54 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the crested eagle is close to the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the crested eagle live?

Not recorded

What is the crested eagle?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis) is a large neotropical eagle, the only member of the genus Morphnus. The crested eagle can grow up to 89 cm (35 in) long, with a wingspan up to 176 cm (69 in), and weigh up to 3 kg (6.6 lb). The plumage varies between a light brownish-gray to sooty gray or even blackish in some cases. It has a white throat and a dark spot on the crest and a small dark mask across the eyes. It ranges extensively throughout Central and South America, but not in large numbers, favoring tropical lowland forest. A powerful predator, its diet consist mainly of small mammals, rodents, snakes and smaller birds. Despite their large distribution, they are currently classified as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due mainly to habitat loss

From the Wikipedia article “Crested eagle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crested_eagle&oldid=1358025250), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the crested eagle endangered?

The crested eagle is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.

How is the crested eagle classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusMorphnus
  7. SpeciesMorphnus guianensis (Daudin, 1800)

Synonyms Falco guianensis, Morphnus taeniatus

Other names and names in other languages (42)
  • Guianan crested eagleEnglish
  • Guianan crested eagleEnglish
  • نسر متوجArabic
  • عقاب عرفاءArabic
  • harpía pequeñaAsturian
  • harpia petitaCatalan
  • harpyje krahujováCzech
  • eryr cribog bachWelsh
  • GuyanatopørnDanish
  • WürgadlerGerman
  • kresta harpioEsperanto
  • Arpía menorSpanish
  • Aguila CrestadaSpanish
  • Águila crestadaSpanish
  • Aguila MoneraSpanish
  • Águila moneraSpanish
  • Harpía menorSpanish
  • sarvikkotkasEstonian
  • pikkuharpyijaFinnish
  • Harpie huppéeFrench
  • mala harpijaCroatian
  • karvalysasHungarian
  • Aquila crestataItalian
  • Aquila della GuianaItalian
  • ヒメオウギワシJapanese
  • gvianinė harpijaLithuanian
  • WurgarendDutch
  • brynjeørnNorwegian
  • harpia gujańskaPolish
  • uiraçuPortuguese
  • águia-de-cristaPortuguese
  • Uiraçu-falsoPortuguese
  • Гвианская гарпияRussian
  • harpya strakatáSlovak
  • Ćubasti oraoSerbian
  • amazonörnSwedish
  • Guyansk kronörnSwedish
  • Guyana KartalıTurkish
  • гарпія гвіанськаUkrainian
  • 冠雕Chinese
  • 冠鵰Chinese
  • 如冕鵰Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the crested eagle

Other species in the same family Accipitridae.

LC, Least Concern
Black kite (Milvus migrans)

Black kite

Milvus migrans

Accipitridae

CompareCrested eagle vs Golden eagleCrested eagle vs Eurasian sparrowhawkCrested eagle vs Eurasian goshawkCrested eagle vs Black kite

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the crested eagle?

An adult crested eagle weighs 1.75 kg and has a wingspan of 1.38 m – 1.54 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the crested eagle endangered?

The crested eagle is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

What kind of animal is the crested eagle?

The crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-eagle

MLA

“Crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-eagle.

BibTeX
@misc{crested_eagle_2026,
  title = {Crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-eagle},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}