Philippine eagle once dominates the Philippine rainforests.

The Philippine eagle is no ordinary eagle in the country- this is considered as the national bird of the country thanks to Proclamation No 615. This proclamation was signed by then President Fidel Ramos. This eagle that can be found in the Philippine is considered as one of the rarest and powerful birds in the world, and as such this was given the name of 'bird of prey'. The eagle has many local names as well and some of the local names of this bird include 'Haribon' or 'Haring Ibon'. Roughly translated, this means 'King of Birds'.

It is generally easy to spot the eagle from afar since this bird is known for many unique characteristics. The head of the bird is adorned with the long brown feathers, and the presence of the features will give the bird that appearance of having the lion's mane. A check at the back of the eagle will reveal that the color is brown and the underside will be dominated by the white color. The legs of the bird will be dominated by the color yellow and it will be known for its powerful claws and large and high arched deep bill that comes in bluish-gray. The powerful claws of the bird are the ones it uses in order to capture its prey on the ground.

The eyes of the Philippine eagle will be blue-gray. If for the other species of birds the male are the ones that grew larger, in the case of this eagle the female of the species are the ones that really grow in size and weight. The typical female eagle will grow to about 1 meter and will weigh around 7 kilograms. Wingspan of the typical female eagle will extend up to 2 meters. The male eagle on the other hand is expected to be around 10 to 20 percent smaller and the male eagle will just average 5 kilograms. But when it comes to life expectancy, both the male and the female eagle will have the same life expectancy of around 10 to 25 years.

The Philippine eagle can be found in selected areas in the Philippine and to be exact, this eagle can be seen in the following rainforests of;

. Luzon
. Samar
. Leyte
. Mindanao

It is in Mindanao where the greatest concentration of these eagles can be found. In Mindanao, the eagle can be seen in the mountain areas near and around Mount Apo. This is now the last frontier for the eagle.

There was a time when these eagles were abundant in the forests of Luzon, Leyte and Samar. But this no longer the case right now as the Mindanao area is the remaining sanctuary for the birds. But their few remaining habitats are being affected by deforestation and logging, and the result for them will be home getting smaller and smaller. As their habitats get smaller and smaller, their population keeps on getting small. The foods of these eagles are selected, and some of its favorite food items include;

. Large snakes
. Hornbills
. Wild Cats
. Monkeys
. Flying Lemurs

The eagles are often called as the 'monkey eating eagle'. These kinds of eagle lives and acts like the regular eagles in the forest. These birds are monogamous and the eagles will remain together for their lifetime. Their home nest will be built based on the dipterocarp or just about any tall tree with the open crown. The female eagle will lay just one egg and both the male and the female eagle will care for the egg for the next twenty months.

For this reason, the female eagle can only breed once every other year. And this is one reason why the population of the eagles remains low.

These eagles are considered as the most dominant predators in the Philippine forests. The scientific name of these eagles adopted art of the name of Jeffry Whitehead. Whitehead is the father of the English naturalist John Whitehead. It was he who collected the original specimen and was one of the first ones who used the label 'monkey-eating eagle'. However later studies have indicated that the Philippine eagle preyed on other animals too- animals like colugo, moitor lizards and a few more animals.