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=__**Audubon Society Meeting: Harpy Eagles in Belize**__= Meera Dahlmann/3B

On October 10th I had the privilege of attending an Audubon Society Meeting. A couple of speakers talked about the importance of birds in our communities, and how we could help encourage birds to stay in our backyards for years to come. The main speaker for the meeting was Dr. Rotenberg.

The main focus of the presentation that day was Dr. Rotenberg's research on Harpy Eagles in Belize. Harpy eagles are super rare in Belize these days. They have an average height of about 38 inches and their wingspan can stretch from 72-88 inches. They are considered the largest raptor in America. The bulk of their habitat range lies in South America. Many harpy eagles can be found in Panama, with rare sightings also reported in Honduras and Mexico. Dr. Rotenberg conducts his research at the Bladen Nature Reserve in Belize, and he has been going there once a year for over a decade.

Because harpy eagles' diets consist of mostly sloths in many countries, their numbers suffer in Belize, a place where there are no sloths. The harpy eagles in Belize have diets that mostly consist of common opossum and white-nosed coatimundi, which make up 42% of their diet.

The Bladen Nature Reserve covers land that has a type of topography called Karst topography. There are lots of sinkholes here. With this comes the emergence of many species of snails. Mid-level consumers eat a lot of snails, therefore, the biomass of snails drives the harpy eagles' existence in the Bladen Nature Reserve.

By using the rare existence of the harpy eagle, their project was able to raise awareness for the birds and therefore encourage local interest in the nature reserve and the local desire to protect the harpy eagle habitat. Locals can be involved and trained on site of the Bladen Nature Reserve.

This presentation directly related to our AP Environmental Science curriculum, especially during our units that covered different biomes, food webs, and food chains. The speaker talked about the energy pyramid and the many trophic levels of the ecosystem at the Bladen Nature Reserve. He also spoke about the Karst topography that set the reserve apart from the surrounding areas. Dr. Rotenberg also mentioned the anthropological effects on harpy eagles, such as habitat fragmentation. This provides less territory for the harpy eagle's to find food in. They are also declining in population due to their long reproductive cycle.