Three scary birds of prey with incredible skills
1. Crowned eagles hunt in pairs to catch monkeys
Crowned eagles have a wingspan of up to 180 cm and are considered the most powerful birds of prey. They are active mainly at dawn and dusk, roosting in trees near clearings and streams, waiting for their prey. They dive at speeds of up to 160 km/h on prey such as mongooses, snakes or antelope weighing up to five times their own weight, piercing their prey’s spine with their sharp, curved claws before carrying it away into the branches to eat it. . However, crowned eagles have a favorite victim, the monkeys that inhabit the dense African forest canopy. Raptors fly silently before locking their claws on a primate’s skull, crushing it instantly. Then they dismember the animal and carry it up the trees.
2. The harpy eagle has claws the size of grizzly bear claws
The emblematic animal of Panama is one of the rarest birds of prey on the American continent, only a few individuals have been observed in the wild. They live in the dense rainforests of Central and South America and are worshiped as deities by the Amazonian Huaorani tribe. However, they are formidable predators, gliding or flapping their wings at full speed, whose wingspan can reach 2 m. They use their sharp beaks to easily dismember sloths, howler, saki, and titi monkeys as well as other medium-sized tree-climbing animals, such as raccoons or porcupines. They also have 13cm claws which are often compared to grizzly bear claws; their paws can crush the bones of large mammals. With such power they are not afraid to hunt even on land: they attack armadillos, deer and foxes and devour them for several days.
3. The great horned owl can swallow its prey whole.
The eagle owl is not what one might call a picky eater. These birds feed on mice, rats, bats, ferrets, rabbits, skunks, squirrels, and even occasionally house cats. And the list is still long. The claws of the eagle owl are powerful, their pressure reaches almost 1365 kg per square centimeter – a death grip on the prey. Even more surprising, while eagle-owls are capable of hovering silently, they can also walk, sneaking up on their victims silently before killing them. Larger prey items are often carried to the nest, but smaller ones are swallowed whole on the spot, their bones and fur regurgitated afterwards.
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