Watch an endangered Philippine eagle chick grow up in rare video
January 16, 2019 - The Philippine eagle is one of the world's largest and rarest birds of prey. Fewer than 900 adults remain on just four Philippine islands. It took four weeks of searching, seven filming platforms, and five months, to capture this rare, intimate look at a Philippine eagle nest. Philippine eagle pairs mate for life and produce just one egg every two years. See how eagle parents feed and care for an eaglet, and watch the eaglet learn to fly, in this close-up look at a nest.
Learn about
the Philippine Eagle Foundation's efforts to save the critically endangered species, and see more footage from the feature film
Bird of Prey, for which the footage was filmed.
Read article "Watch an endangered eagle chick grow up in rare video."
Transcript
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- [Narrator] The Philippine
Eagle is one of the world's
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largest and rarest birds of prey.
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A critically endangered species,
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fewer than 900 adults remain
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on just four Philippine islands.
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A top predator of the forest,
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the eagle's hunting range can
cover up to 40 square miles.
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But much of the Philippine forests
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have disappeared since the 1600's.
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Due to logging and human encroachment,
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less than 25% of
historical forest remains.
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Conservation groups, like the
Philippine Eagle Foundation,
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are studying the eagle's behaviors
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in an effort to save the species.
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It took four weeks of searching,
seven filming platforms
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and five months to capture
this rare, intimate look
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at a Philippine Eagle nest.
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(eagle screeches)
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Within the rainforest canopy,
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this young eagle is beginning its life
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under the watchful care of its parents.
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Philippine Eagle pairs mate for life
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and produce just one egg every two years.
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Both parents work together
to raise the chick,
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sharing the hunting and feeding duties.
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The parents deliver meals of
snakes, birds and mammals,
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such as flying lemurs,
several times per week.
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At around six weeks old, the
eaglet is learning new skills.
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By about two months old, its soft down
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is replaced with feathers.
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And soon, it develops its
iconic mane-like crest.
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Now 15 weeks old, the eaglet
stretches and flaps its wings,
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practicing for its first flight.
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Eaglets fledge, or first leave the nest
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around five months of age.
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But the parents continue
providing for the young
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for another 18 months.
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The juvenile takes bigger and
bigger leaps near the nest
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as it learns to fly ...
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but not without some tumbles.
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Philippine Eagles often
reuse their nest sites
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each mating season, making
deforestation in nesting areas
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a threat to the species survival.
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Community based efforts
to protect nesting sites
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and enforce poaching laws,
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are showing some promising results.
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While the Philippine Eagle
remains critically endangered,
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each successful fledgling
brings new possibility.
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(orchestral music)