Harpy+Eagles

=__**Harpy Eagles in Belize**__=

====In his lecture, Dr.Jasmine Rotenburg talked about his research in Belize at the Bladen Nature Reserve about the Harpy Eagle. The Harpy Eagle is one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. The Harpy Eagles are very large, with a height of around 38 inches and a wingspan of 77 to 88 inches. They also have very large talons to attack their prey. They eat large animals including sloths, opossums, and snails. There is a large population of snails in Belize so it promotes the Harpy Eagle population. The female eagles have a longer lifespan than the males, living for around 20 years. The Harpy Eagles reproduce one bird a time. This is why there are very few Harpy Eagles in the world. The Harpy Eagles in Belize were hunted in Belize but the locals are starting to understand the importance of protecting the animals. Dr.Jasmine also talked about using drones to map parts of the forest in Belize. They used machine learning to do this.====

This lecture relates to Environmental Science because they talked about the energy pyramid. Dr. Jasmine explained how the Harpy Eagles had large diets because they had to eat more to get energy. This relates to the 10% energy transfer that happens in ecosystems that we learned about in class. Harpy eagles are also endangered from clear-cutting, deforestation, and hunting. These are factors that are decreasing biodiversity, and destroying ecosystems. In class we talk about sustainability and conservation, ways to prevent ecosystems from being destroyed.