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  Profile

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  In flight

Birds of Prey

Black-and-chestnut Eagle

Spizaetus isidori

• epic
• 76 km/h
• Endangered

Endangered Andean eagle. Hunts monkeys and large birds from rainforest canopy. One of the most powerful forest raptors alive.

Population

roughly 1,400–4,200 mature individuals (2024 estimate)

Habitat

humid montane (cloud) forest in the Andes; core range ~1,800–2,500 m elevation per some sources, with other sources citing a broader 1,500–2,800 m band (recorded 0–3,500 m at extremes)

Fun fact

A detailed dietary study found wild Andean guans made up nearly 54% of prey items, underscoring the Black-and-chestnut Eagle's role as the apex avian predator of Andean cloud forests.

Range

Andes from Venezuela and Colombia south through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia to northern Argentina, with isolated populations in the Venezuelan Coastal Range, Serranía del Perijá, and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

Diet

primarily arboreal mammals (squirrels, opossums, porcupines) and mid-to-large birds such as guans, occasionally monkeys, kinkajous, coatis, and domestic poultry

Size

0.7 m

Wingspan

1.6 m