In their quest of the Golden Fleece, Jason and the Argonauts, “at all costs, avoided a rapacious creature known as a Harpy possessing the face of an old woman and the body of a bird.” The animal had a “sharp beak, wings and claws, a ravenous appetite and flew with the speed of the wind, its feathers serving as armor. It snatched up mortals and carried them off to the underground, always leaving behind a sickening odor that befouled a human’s food that starved a person to death.”

Harpie inhabited the Emerald Isle as well as those of the Greeks’ Aegean Sea. Ireland’s ancient Druids warned the Little People to steer clear of the monsters lest they be carried off to the underworld. And even today, many an Irishman swears the critters are still around plaguing him after he’s had a rough night.

Nice bird for the PIAS to honor while celebrating St. Patrick’s Day come March 17th? No way, Clyde! What’s the next best thing then for Bird of the Month?

How about the Harpy Eagle? It fits the description of the demon feared by Greeks and Celts alike. And what’s more, they’re all over the place in Central and South America where birders game enough to try can get a glimpse of the raptors in action.

Thrasaetus harpia, the largest of all eagles, and Panama’s national bird, is one tough customer and like its mythical namesake, is a killer, not of mankind, but of one of his fellow primates. Like its equally ferocious cousins, Africa’s crowned and the Philippines’ “monkey” eagles, the Harpy’s favorite food is the Capucian simian early Spanish explorers thought resembled the Old World’s Franciscan order of monks with their dark, brown hides looking like the friars’ robes and the hair on their heads appearing to be cowls like the priests’ wore.

Killers, Harpies fly through the jungle canopy in pursuit of the fleeing apes, their strong wings slashing into thick branches that would break another eagle’s, like the soaring Golden’s, bones. Catching their prey, they crush the victim’s skull with feet that are the most powerful of all raptors and which are as big as a large, fully-grown man’s hand. They then fly off to their nests with the dead monkey, where they drop off the booty to their young, being careful not to get too close to the vicious eaglet. The nestling instinctively repeats the skull crushing routine before tearing the animal’s body apart and consuming it.

The birds’ speed, even through canopy, averages over 50 miles per hour and while they prefer monkeys, they won’t turn up their peaks at ground animals such as coatis, porcupines, opossums and tropical deer. Parrots, macaws and even the tough, sharp-clawed sloth, will appear on their menu. At a normal feeding, Harpies are known to consume a good half pound of food and, therefore, must hunt at least twice a week to take care of their own needs. The eaglet’s demands for victuals increases their foraging for food.

Harpies, the female one third larger than the male, reach the weight of 14 pounds, the average size of a wild turkey. Their wings are shorter than the soaring eagles but much broader and thicker. A crown of long plumes makes the bird look somewhat like the great horned owl when looking at it full-faced. Blue-black feathers cover its back and chest. Its head and neck are gray. They nest in mahogany trees on the highest forks, usually about 200 feet up. The sticks making up the nest are 2½ inches thick with the interwoven platform measuring four feet across, the walls two feet wide from top to bottom.

Harpies breed only once every other year, a single egg being laid. Each breeding pair returns to the same nest. Parents teach the fledglings to fly by leaving the nest for long periods of time and force the young to fend for themselves by placing food on branches at greater distances each time as the chick grows older. If the eaglet refuses to abandon the nest, it starves to death.

Harpy Eagles do not seem to have any enemies, all tree climbing snakes, lizards, and other birds and mammals capable of venturing into the highest areas of the canopy giving them a wide berth.

The mythical Harpies of Jason’s days and of the era prior to Padriac Succat’s (St. Pat’s real name) return to Ireland where he had once been a slave, might have been a fearsome adversary, but the modern day birds are not particularly hostile toward humans. That is, so long as you keep away from their nests. There, you face not only the young but the parents as well and the only things saving your head and eyesight are a stout helmet and a pair of unbreakable goggles. Mess around with “Home Sweet Home” and you’re facing a buzz saw!

Material Sources: Funk & Wagnalls Wildlife Encyclopedia
Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia
National Geographic Magazine