Philippine eagle

The Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has brown and white-colored plumage, a shaggy crest, and generally measures 86 to 102 cm (2.82 to 3.35 ft) in length and weighs 4.04 to 8.0 kg (8.9 to 17.6 lb).

The Philippine eagle is considered the largest of the extant eagles in the world in terms of length and wing surface area, with only Steller's sea eagle and the Harpy eagle being larger in terms of weight and bulk. It has been declared the national bird of the Philippines. It is also depicted in the Philippine one thousand-peso note. The species had been classified by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered with a declining population and is one of the most endangered raptors in the world. The most significant threat to the species is loss of habitat, a result of high levels of deforestation throughout most of its range. Since 2019, more than 20 eagles have been rescued mostly due to injuries from gunshot wounds.

Killing a Philippine eagle is a criminal offence, punishable by law with up to 12 years' imprisonment and heavy fines.

The Philippine eagle has numerous native names in the Philippine languages. These include bánoy and ágila (a Spanish loanword) in Tagalog; manaul or manaol in the Visayan languages; manaol or garuda in Maranao and Maguindanao; tipule in Subanen; and mam-boogook or malamboogook in the Manobo languages, Klata, Tagabawa, Mandaya, and Kalagan. Some of these names are also used for other large eagles in general, such as the white-breasted sea eagle (also called manaul in Visayan). In modern Filipino, it is usually referred to as háribon (a portmanteau of "háring ibon", literally "bird king").

The first European to study the species was the English explorer and naturalist John Whitehead in 1896, who observed the bird and whose servant, Juan, collected the first specimen a few weeks later. The skin of the bird was sent to William Robert Ogilvie-Grant in London in 1896, who initially showed it off in a local restaurant and described the species a few weeks later.

Upon its scientific discovery, the Philippine eagle was first called the monkey-eating eagle because of reports from natives of Bonga, Samar, where the species was first discovered, that it preyed exclusively on monkeys. These reports gave its generic name, from the Greek pithecus (πίθηκος, "ape" or "monkey") and phagus (-φάγος, "eater of"). The species name commemorates Jeffery Whitehead, the father of John Whitehead. Later studies revealed, however, that the alleged monkey-eating eagle also ate other animals, such as colugos, large snakes, monitor lizards, and even large birds such as hornbills. This, coupled with the fact that the same name applied to the African crowned eagle and the Central and South American harpy eagle, it was renamed "Philippine eagle" in a 1978 proclamation by then-President Ferdinand Marcos. In 1995, it was declared a national emblem under President Fidel V. Ramos. This species has no recognized subspecies.

A 1919 study of the bird's skeletal features led to the suggestion that the nearest relative was the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). The species was included in the subfamily Harpiinae until a 2005 study of DNA sequences which identified them as not members of the group, finding instead that the nearest relatives are snake eagles (Circaetinae), such as the bateleur. The species has subsequently been placed in the subfamily Circaetinae.

The Philippine eagle's nape is adorned with long, brown feathers that form a shaggy, mane-like crest. The eagle has a dark face and a creamy-brown nape and crown. The back of the Philippine eagle is dark brown, while the underside and underwings are white. The heavy legs are yellow, with large, powerful, dark claws, and the prominent, large, high-arched, deep beak is a bluish-gray. The eagle's eyes are blue-gray. Juveniles are similar to adults except their upperpart feathers have pale fringes. The Philippine eagle is typically reported as measuring 86–102 cm (2 ft 10 in – 3 ft 4 in) in total length, but a survey of several specimens from some of the largest natural history collections in the world found the average was 95 cm (3 ft 1 in) for males and 105 cm (3 ft 5 in) for females. Based on the latter measurements, this makes it the longest extant species of eagle, as the average for the female equals the maximum reported for the harpy eagle and Steller's sea eagle. The longest Philippine eagle reported anywhere and the longest eagle outside of the extinct Haast's eagle is a specimen from Field Museum of Natural History with a length of 112 cm (3 ft 8 in), but it had been kept in captivity so may not represent the wild individuals due to differences in the food availability.