The Papuan eagle (Harpyopsis novaeguineae) is a large bird of prey. It is also known by several other names, including Papuan harpy eagle, New Guinea eagle, New Guinea harpy eagle, or kapul eagle, the latter name from the local name for a usually arboreal, marsupial that the eagle is known to regularly hunt. This is an endemic species to New Guinea, and it can occasionally be found throughout the island. This is a forest-dwelling species, usually occurring in mature rainforest. The Papuan eagle is a fairly little-known species for a large eagle; however, it is known to prey on a wide range of prey, probably by and large mammals and birds from small to quite large sizes. What little study has been conducted about their breeding habits suggests they nest in a large forest tree, perhaps every other year. The Papuan eagle is probably naturally scarce, but it is under the threat of habitat destruction by deforestation, as well as hunting. Due to its small and declining population, the species has been classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.
Distribution and habitat
The Papuan eagle is endemic to New Guinea. It has been seen in almost every part of the island, from peninsular Indonesian Papua in the west to throughout the nation of Papua New Guinea in the east. The main native habitat inhabited by Papuan eagles are undisturbed tropical rainforests. However, they will also utilize gallery forests, monsoon scrub forest and dry woodland. The species has even been reported to sometimes turn up in forest edge and relatively open areas such as gardens, but more extensive research that this is extraordinarily rare if it does even occur. They can live at several elevations from sea level up to regularly , but occasionally have reported at elevations ranging from . At times, it has been considered a bird that prefers steeper sloped or ridged parts of the forest.
Description
The New Guinea eagle is a fairly large eagle and very large raptor. Though the sexes are similar, the female is slightly larger than the male, with a range up to a 34% size difference. In total length, adults range from . The relatively short but broad wingspan, as expected in forest-dwelling raptors, is . The body mass widely reported is relatively light for so large a raptor at . This may be due in no small part to its extremely long tail, which measures in males and in females. The weights reported according to some authors probably underrepresent their size, especially those of full-grown females, and their body size range based on linear dimensions (the weighed birds could have been all smaller males). This species also possesses an exceptional long tarsus, which may rival the Philippine eagle, which weighs about three times more than the Papuan eagle, as the longest of all living eagles at . Meanwhile, the wing chord measures in males and . A single male had a culmen length of .