Keeping an eye on pairs of fierce harpies

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia

Dear difteur-ses,

During the first 6 months of the year, twenty ferocious harpy breeding territories were monitored using camera traps, drones or direct observation.

Thanks to your support, cameras were placed at the foot of nesting trees and filmed a wide variety of mammal and bird species: collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), puma (Puma concolor) and trumpeter agami (Psophia crepitans).

During the monitoring, prey remains and feathers were collected in order to continue studies on harpy genetics and the presence of heavy metals and agrochemicals.

Puma and peccaries photographed near harpy nests

Beauval Nature

Dear difteur-ses,

Created in 1952, the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) launched the ferocious harpy conservation project in 1997. Teams study the biology, movements and dispersal of harpies and monitor their nests.

In 2024, thanks to your support, Projeto Harpia continued its actions. Here's an overview:

Study of eagles in Amazonian and Atlantic forests .

Four species are being monitored:
▪️ Ferocious harpy (Harpia harpyja),
▪️ Crested harpy (Morphnus guianensis),
▪️ Ornate eagle (Spizaetus ornatus),
▪️ Black and white eagle (Spizaetus melanoleucus).

Nest mapping and monitoring .

In 2024, 40 nests of 3 different species (ferocious harpy, crested harpy and golden eagle) were monitored in 6 Brazilian states. Researchers collected data, including setting camera traps, juveniles were photographed, and prey remains were collected.

Harpy conservation awareness

Activities were offered to children, teenagers and adults: exhibition of books, panels, harpy feathers and prey bones.

40 harpy nests monitored in 2024!

Dear difteurs,

New ferocious harpy nests have been monitored by INPA, in 4 Brazilian states: Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará and Mato Grosso do Sul. In particular, the movements of a young harpy were tracked by satellite transmitter: she flew up to 1 km from her nest, while returning to land on it. In another nest, a female was filmed taking care of her 2-month-old cub.

Teams also took part in the rescue of an injured young harpy, but it unfortunately did not survive as a result of its injuries.

A big thank you for your invaluable support and difts!

Nest surveillance continues

Monitoring of harpy nests continued this summer, thanks in particular to camera traps set up in the Amazon rainforest and on nesting trees. Several young harpies were photographed! Teams are also continuing to collect food scraps that have fallen at the foot of trees, in order to study the prey eaten by the birds.
Various awareness-raising projects were also carried out this summer: exhibition of books, information panels and feathers.

Young harpies show the tip of their beaks

To study the interactions between different species and analyze the diet of ferocious harpies, the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia uses an ingenious system that has proved its worth. A nylon net is suspended from the base of a nesting tree, collecting the remains of prey consumed by the harpies. This biological material is then transported to the laboratory for analysis, in order to determine the species consumed as accurately as possible. The teams were able to identify that these predators feed mainly on arboreal mammals such as sloths, monkeys, coatis and porcupines. The harpy also occasionally feeds on birds and reptiles, but to a lesser extent. This study highlights the ecological role of harpies, but also underlines the importance of preserving its habitat and all the surrounding fauna, thus preserving the equilibrium of the equatorial forest.

Keeping an eye on pairs of fierce harpies

The project

Use of the money