Gray eagle
Bernardo C. Malinverno
Guilherme Lemos
José dos Santos
The gray eagle is an accipitriformes bird of the family Accipitridae, its scientific name is Harpyhaliaetus coronatus or Buteogallus coronatus. This bird of prey, commonly known as the crowned eagle, is an endangered bird in South America, specifically in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. It occurs in abundance in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna), especially in the south, southeast and central-west of Brazil. They are also found in mountainous areas, natural fields and riparian forests. Sometimes, they are considered semi-crepuscular: crepuscular animals are active during dawn and dusk.
The crowned eagle is a large bird with a long, visible crest. In addition, it also has long, broad wings with a short tail. The adults are almost entirely gray, with a large occipital crest and a short tail with black and white bands. The juvenile is gray-brown on the back and pale with gray-brown streaks on the head and bottom. The gray eagle feeding habits consists of medium-sized animals. This predator has as its diet small mammals, reptiles, fish, carrion and sometimes even birds. The eagle has excellent vision and can see another animal from about 400 meters high.
Crowned Solitary Eagles are listed as Endangered by BirdLife International, and the IUCNRedlist since they have a very small and declining population. They face severe threats, since their habitats are being destroyed by agriculture, cattle ranching, invasive grasses, afforestation, pesticides, annual burning, and colonization, and the eagles are shot and deliberately disturbed.
Presently, the Crowned Solitary Eagle is an endangered species in Brazil, found on IBAMA's threat list. Habitat destruction natural fields and associated landscapes, such as the cerrado and rupestrian vegetation, hunting and the development of intensive agriculture are the most pertinent threats. Moreover, in Brazil, campo cerrado habitats are being rapidly destroyed by mechanised agriculture, intensive cattle-ranching, afforestation, invasive grasses, excessive use of pesticides and annual burning.
It is one of the largest birds of prey found in Brazil and also one of the rarest. This eagle contains a large size, and needs prey and large areas to constitute its territories for feeding and reproduction. Because it prefers open or semi-forested habitats, it ends up becoming an easy target for hunting, since eventually these eagles prey on domestic animals and, therefore, are considered harmful. Therefore, to solve this problem, the creation of a conservation unit, planning the proper use of the soil and maintaining legal reserves can be options to help these animals. In addition, it is necessary to reduce the persecution of gray eagles, through environmental education.