Crowned Solitary Eagle

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Crowned Solitary Eagle The Crowned Solitary Eagle is an endangered bird of prey from eastern and central South America. This is a large raptor with a length of 73-79 cm (29-31 in), a wingspan of 170-183 cm (67-72 in) and an average weight of 2.95 kg (6.5 lbs.) Adults are almost entirely gray with a large occipital crest and a short, black-and-white-banded tail. The juvenile is gray-brown on the back and pale with gray-brown streaks on the head and underside. The Crowned Solitary Eagle lives in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. It tends to live in open woodland. It preys principally on mammals, including armadillos, skunks, weasels, rodents and monkeys. It also hunts reptiles (principally snakes), fish, domestic lambs and occasionally birds, including tinamou and poultry. Its nest is large platform of sticks about 1.2 m across and 30 cm deep. One nest was noted to be in the same tree above a communal nest of Monk Parakeets. Eggs were recorded in October and young in May but nothing more is really known about its breeding activities. This species is considered vulnerable by BirdLife International, mainly because it occurs at very low density and it is very seldomly encountered in the wild. It is largely threatened by habitat destruction, since its habitat has been greatly compromised by the spread of agriculture and cattle-ranching. Also, hunting of these bird is believed to occur largely due to fear of livestock

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