07/08/2026
๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ฎโฐ| ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐น๐ฒ is also known as ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ-๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ?๐
๐
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง:
Philippine Eagles are one of the largest, strongest, and rarest birds in the world that snatches monkeys' life for its appetite.
๐ก ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก: Philippine Eagles are actually pure carnivores and they ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ด.
According to Kuya Kim on April 22, 2026 "24 Oras," they were called ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ-๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ because natives thought the birds only eat monkeys for their diet. In the 1960s, this information was debunked.
๐ซฏ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ซฏ
๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐-๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ and ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐๐ believed that monkeys are the only animals sufficiently abundant in these forests (Samar) to support such a large bird.
On December 16, 1896, Scottish ornithologist ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐-๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ presented a newly described bird species at the 39th meeting of the British Ornithologistsโ Club. Natives from Samar claimed that it โ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐บ[๐ฆ๐ฅ] ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ๐ดโ (possibly referring to macaques). Both ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐-๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ and British naturalist and explorer ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐๐, the man credited with the birdโs discovery, believed this.
The bird was named the โ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ-๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ฆโ, or ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ช. Its generic name, ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข, means โmonkey-eater,โ while ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ช was coined in honor of ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, who financed his expedition to the Philippines.
However, later studies revealed that the bird, an apex predator, actually feeds on a much wider range of smaller animals, depending on the availability of food in its area. Furthermore, monkeys only comprise a small percentage of its diet. In reality, the ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ-๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ also ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ด, ๐ด๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด, and whatever else it could get its sharp talons on.
๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐
The ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐น๐ฒ locally known as ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ฃ or ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ which means โ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ, ๐๐ด๐ถ๐น๐ฎ meaning โ๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ฆโ and ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ด meaning โ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ฆโ.
Like most eagles, they are ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ (loyal to one mate for life). A nesting pair can produce a single egg every two years. The male sexually matures at seven years of age and the female at five years. Both of the parents take part in the incubation of the egg, but the female does a majority of the incubating. When the egg hatches after 62 days (2 months), both parents take turns in hunting and feeding their newly hatched eaglet.
Unfortunately, the ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐น๐ฒ is critically endangered due to poachers and deforestation. The bird is chosen as a national symbol as it represents the strength, uniqueness, a love for freedom, and power of the Filipino people. Losing them to extinction would mean losing a nation's precious biological heritage.
๐ References:
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/828215/why-was-the-philippine-eagle-called-monkey-eating-eagle-kuya-kim-explains/story/?utm_source=GMANews
https://www.flipscience.ph/plants-and-animals/philippine-eagle-monkey-eating-eagle/
https://www.divescotty.com/underwater-blog/philippine-eagle-monkey-eating-eagle.php
๐ผ๏ธ: STEM Society PIO, Kent Ozie Lignes
โ๏ธ: STEM Society G11 Representative, Catherine Dajay
