The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(2):292-297, 2012 
FIRST RECORD OF A HARPY EAGLE (HARP 1 A HARPYJA) 
NEST IN BELIZE 
JAMES A. ROTENBERG,' 3 JACOB A. MARLIN, 2 LI BERATO POP, 2 AND WILLIAM GARCIA 2 
ABSTRACT.—We present the first description of a breeding record of the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) in Belize, and 
describe the subsequent fledging of the juvenile. We discovered the nest on 27 November 2010 with a single 4-5 week-old 
chick, and began focal observations. The juvenile spent 56.3% of 71 observation days feeding, and the parents delivered 
food to the nest at a rate of one item every 2.04-3.33 days from late January to April. The most frequent food items were the 
common opossum (Didelphis manupialis), white-nosed coatimundi ( Nasua narica), and Yucatan black howler monkn 
(Alouatta pigra). We placed a satellite GPS-PPT transmitter on the juvenile Harpy Eagle on 14 April 2011 to track its 
movement patterns alter Hedging. Soon alter, the parents stopped returning to the nest, the juvenile fledged, and for2Kda\s 
we delivered food to the young eagle in place of its parents. The abandonment of the juvenile by the parents may have been 
caused by low food abundance caused by drought conditions and/or placement of the transmitter may have had a role The 
male subsequently returned to feed the juvenile. We believe these eagles represent one of the northernmost known extant 
breeding pairs of Harpy Eagles in the Americas. Received 12 September 2011. Accepted 23 January 2012. 
The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) once ranged 
from southern Mexico to northern Argentina 
(Vargas et al. 2006); however, due to deforesta¬ 
tion and persecution by humans the Harpy Eagle 
is now extirpated across most of Central America. 
The Harpy Eagle is a species of high conservation 
concern over its entire range and is designated 
as ‘Near Threatened’ by the IUCN (2011). The 
species is considered “Critically Endangered* 
(Meerman and Clabaugh 2010) in Belize and 
there were only five confirmed observations 
between 1980 and 2000 (Vargas et al. 2006). 
Two eagles were observed in 2000. one at 
Millionario near Las Cuevas in the Chiquibul 
Forest Reserve, and one at Caracol Archeological 
Reserve (Lewis 2000). The Harpy Eagle was 
subsequently considered extirpated in Belize 
(Matola 2006) and a reintroduction program 
began with captive-bred birds from Panama 
(Muela and Curti 2005). We made nine observa¬ 
tions of wild (i.e., not introduced and unhanded) 
Harpy Eagles in the Bladen Nature Reserve 
(BNR) in the Southern Maya Mountains since 
December 2005. Two of our observations were 
especially significant because they were juveniles 
and young Harpy Eagles typically stay in close 
proximity (< 2 km) to their nest for at least 1 year 
(Rettig 1978). We began the Integrated Commu¬ 
nity-Based Harpy Eagle and Avian Conservation 
Program tor the Maya Mountains Massif follow- 
' Department of Environmental Studies, University 
Norih Carolina Wilmington. Wilmington, NC 28403 US 
-Belize Foundation for Research and Environment 
Education (BFREE), P. G. Box 129. Puma Gorda, Beliz, 
Corresponding author; e-mail; rotenbergj@uncw.edu 
ing our 2005 rediscovery (Jones and Komar 2006 1 
to monitor the species, find nests, and monitor 
the bird community to test hypotheses on the 
resources that support flagship species such as the 
Harpy Eagle (Rotenberg et al. 2009). 
We discovered an active Harpy Eagle nest on 2* 
November 2010 in the BNR (Jones and Komar 
2011). We began to monitor, study, and protect the 
nest, mated adult pair, and nestling. Much of what 
is known about Harpy Eagle nesting behavior 
comes from observations in South America (e.g.. 
Seymour et al. 2010) because there are few records 
of Harpy Eagle nests in Central America (Vargas 
et al. 2006). In addition, observations of prey 
provisioned to the young al the nest are limited to 
South America (Schulcnberg 2009). The distribu¬ 
tions of prey species differ between Central and 
South America, and prey choice by Harpy Eagle* 
in Belize could vary from those of birds in Soulh 
America. Our objectives in this paper are to 
describe: (1) our observations of Harpy Eagle nest 
behaviors. (2) Hedging of the juvenile eagle and 
our application of a satellite transmitter. (3) prey 
species and food delivery rates, and (4) the first 
breeding record of Harpy Eagles in Belize (H. L. 
Jones, pers. comm.). 
OBSERVATIONS 
All observations were in the 40,336 ha Bladen 
Nature Reserve (BNR). the core conservation area 
within the Maya Mountains in the Southern May** 
Mountains of Belize (Fig. 1), which has the highest 
protection status of any protected area in Belize. 
The BNR is among the last large, relatively intact 
blocks of lorest in the Selva Maya region; one ot 
the most pristine, biodiversity-rich areas in this 
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