The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) or Haring Ibon or Haribon can only be found in the Philippines, specifically Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.

In 1995, it was proclaimed the National Bird, referred to as a “biological indicator of the quality of our forest ecosystems.” This is true, because each nesting pair needs an average of 6,800 hectares of forest to raise a single chick! This is almost the size of the entire city of Marawi, or about twice the size of the city of Makati. 

Philippine Eagles are also monogamous, or stay together for life. If each Philippine Eagle couple needs a certain amount of forest to raise their family, that means without forests, there are no love birds :(. And if the forest has enough food and shelter for growing Haribon families, the forest will continue to support human lives as well!

Philippine Eagle’s favorite food

In Mindanao, Philippine Eagles eat lots of flying mammals such as the Philippine Flying Lemur or Kagwang. In Luzon, they eat a lot of cloud rats, specifically Yut-yut (Phloeomys pallidus)! (Abaño, et al. 2016, RT Chua-Barcelo 2014).

Philippine eagles are also “opportunistic feeders” or eat what is available in the forest (Panopio 2017, Kennedy 1977). This means that a healthy forest = more cloud rats, kagwang, and other food items = more Philippine Eagles! This strengthens “the need to maintain and enhance existing local conservation strategies,” as mentioned by Abaño, et al., 2016.

A wide variety of food sources is important for biodiversity, and people too. Protect your local palengke or merkado, and protect your local forests!

Philippine Eagle nests

Did you know that Philippine Eagle nests in Luzon have so far been smaller than those in Mindanao? They are also hidden under more plants and foliage too. Scientists suspect that these are adaptations to typhoons.

In 2015, Tatiana Abaño and her team searched far and wide for nests in the Cordillera, and became the first to record an active nest in Luzon! Since there are more typhoons that make landfall in Luzon, they suspect the smaller nest sizes and increased plant cover help protect the chicks from these storms (Abaño, et al., 2016, AMS Desquitado, et al., 2020).

But as storms become larger, and more forest is lost in Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, and Leyte, all nests are threatened unless we do something about it.

Philippine Eagle Week

To help remind people of their importance, there is a week dedicated to Philippine Eagle awareness every year from June 4 to 10. The week was established under Proclamation No. 79 series 1999, where it states “…There is a need to instill into the minds of the Filipino people the importance of the Philippine Eagle as a biological indicator of the forest ecosystems, as a national symbol, and as a unique heritage…”

For more information check out Haribon Foundation, BirdLife International, or the Philippine Eagle Foundation for info on our very own Haring Ibon.

Artprint on Society6: https://society6.com/product/philippine-eagle-in-filipino-and-baybayin-pithecophaga-jefferyi_print