Harpy eagle
Harpia harpyja (Linnaeus, 1758)
The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), also called the American harpy eagle, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. It is a medium-sized carnivore of forest habitats, with an adult body mass of 4.8 kg and a wingspan of 1.9 m.
Quick facts about the harpy eagle
Its clutches hold 2 eggs, incubated for 55 days, at a rate of 0.5 clutches per year, and it reaches sexual maturity at 5 years.
- Weight
- 4.4 kg – 8.3 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.75 m – 2.02 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 16.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 55 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4.97 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the harpy eagle?
Photos of the harpy eagle
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the harpy eagle live?
Not recorded
What is the harpy eagle?
The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the largest bird of prey throughout its range, and among the largest extant species of eagles in the world. It usually inhabits tropical lowland rainforests in the upper (emergent) canopy layer. Destruction of its natural habitat has caused it to vanish from many parts of its former range, and it is nearly extirpated from much of Central America. It is the only member of the genus Harpia, which, together with Harpyopsis, Macheiramphus and Morphnus, forms the subfamily Harpiinae.
From the Wikipedia article “Harpy eagle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harpy_eagle&oldid=1382438438), 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 harpy eagle endangered?
The harpy eagle is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the harpy eagle classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusHarpia
- SpeciesHarpia harpyja (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Aquila brasiliensis cristata, Aquila cristata, Falco harpyja, Thrasaetos harpyia, Thrasaëtus harpyia, Vultur harpyja
Other names and names in other languages (58)
- American harpy eagleEnglish
- American harpy eagleEnglish
- عقاب خطافةArabic
- عقاب مخادعArabic
- ХарпияBulgarian
- harpia grossaCatalan
- harpyje pralesníCzech
- eryr cribog mawrWelsh
- HarpyDanish
- HarpyieGerman
- granda harpioEsperanto
- Amerika harpioEsperanto
- ArpíaSpanish
- Aguila ArpíaSpanish
- Águila arpíaSpanish
- Aguila HarpíaSpanish
- águila harpíaSpanish
- Arpía mayorSpanish
- HarpíaSpanish
- harpüia (harpüiakotkas)Estonian
- harpyijaFinnish
- Aigle féroceFrench
- Harpie féroceFrench
- הרפיהHebrew
- hárpiaHungarian
- ArpiaItalian
- Aquila arpiaItalian
- Aquila arpia americanaItalian
- Aquila arpia brasilianaItalian
- オウギワシJapanese
- 부채머리수리Korean
- Burung Lang HarpyMalay
- HarpijDutch
- harpyørnNorwegian
- harpia wielkaPolish
- uraçuPortuguese
- águia-brasileiraPortuguese
- cutucurimPortuguese
- gavião-de-penachoPortuguese
- gavião-realPortuguese
- harpiaPortuguese
- uiraçuPortuguese
- uiraçu-verdadeiroPortuguese
- uiracuirPortuguese
- uiruetêPortuguese
- Chullu walliQuechua
- ГарпияRussian
- Большая гарпияRussian
- Южноамериканская гарпияRussian
- harpya opičiarkaSlovak
- HarpijaSerbian
- HarpyaSwedish
- harpyjaSwedish
- gwïrawa'sutpn
- Harpi KartalıTurkish
- гарпія великаUkrainian
- 角雕Chinese
- 角鵰Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the harpy eagle
Other species in the same family Accipitridae.
Golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Eurasian sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus
Eurasian goshawk
Astur gentilis
Black kite
Milvus migrans
Common buzzard
Buteo buteo
Bearded vulture
Gypaetus barbatus
CompareHarpy eagle vs Golden eagleHarpy eagle vs Eurasian sparrowhawkHarpy eagle vs Eurasian goshawkHarpy eagle vs Black kite
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the harpy eagle?
The harpy eagle is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae and the order Accipitriformes.
How big is the harpy eagle?
The harpy eagle has an adult body mass of 4.8 kg, with reported values from 4.4 to 8.3 kg. Its wingspan is 1.9 m, with reported values from 1.75 to 2.02 m.
What does the harpy eagle eat?
The harpy eagle is a carnivore.
Is the harpy eagle endangered?
The harpy eagle is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does the harpy eagle live?
The harpy eagle has a lifespan of 16.8 years.
How many eggs does the harpy eagle lay?
The harpy eagle lays 2 eggs per clutch, at 0.5 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 55 days.
Who named the harpy eagle?
The harpy eagle's scientific name, Harpia harpyja, has the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/harpy-eagle
“Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/harpy-eagle.
@misc{harpy_eagle_2026,
title = {Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/harpy-eagle},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}