Rare Phl eagles spotted in Apayao

SAN MANUEL, Pangasinan, Philippines – Sightings of a pair of Philippine eagles (Pithecophaga jefferyi) and their offspring were recorded during a two-week expedition that began Nov. 6 in Calanasan town in Apayao province.

The eagles were seen on three occasions – Nov. 6, Nov. 8 and on Nov. 19.

Confirming the sightings was a composite team of investigators from the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the San Roque Power Corp. (SRPC).

After scanning the thick forests of Barangay Eva for days, PEF investigators Tatiana Abaño and Adriano Oxales finally spotted a lone Philippine eagle standing inside the crown of the tallest tree atop Mount Mamukaw.

Moments later the adult eagle jumped and glided out of view, reappearing above Mamukaw 20 minutes later.

A few minutes later it was back on the same perch, but this time harassed by a flock of Rufous hornbills which were obviously bothered by the giant raptor’s presence.

An eagle food item, the hornbills loudly wailed at the eagle for a couple of minutes, but eventually gave up and left one by one.

The eagle stood its ground, giving Abaño and Oxales ample time to fix a digital camera on their field telescope and take the first photos of a wild adult eagle in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The eagle flew away after the last hornbill took off. But the day’s eagle show did not end there.

At half past noon, an eagle re-emerged from the canopy and rode the thermals in a spiral motion to great heights. To the team’s delight, another eagle joined in at mid-air, trailing the other for a couple of minutes.

Experts at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City believe that such flight rituals are a means to strengthen pair bonding during nesting or when jointly raising their young.

The next day, loud begging calls of a young Philippine eagle were heard, which further proved that the pair is already rearing an eaglet.

Earlier this year, DENR Regional Eagle Watch Team investigators saw and photographed a young eagle at Mamukaw.

Judging from what is known so far about the timing of nesting among eagles, the eagle pair might breed again either by the last quarter of next year or the first quarter of 2013.

An eagle pair mates for life and the female lays only a single egg every other year.

The Philippine eagle, the country’s national bird, is already on the brink of extinction because of continuous hunting and deforestation.

Fortunately, the newly discovered eagle pair and its forest habitat at Calanasan town are within an indigenous protected area.

Called “Lapat,” this ancient and sacred forest of the Isnag tribe is spared from logging, hunting and other forms of human exploitation, keeping the eagles and other wildlife therein safe from harm.

For years, a number of investigators thought that the Cordillera mountains support only a very small number of eagles.

“But based on the results of this survey, the extent of good forest habitats which the expedition team saw in Apayao and nearby provinces, and the few but reliable DENR records of eagles sighted and killed across the region, the Cordilleras seem to be an eagle stronghold, too,” Abaño said.

Hopefully, this being the first systematic survey for the species in the region, would yield more information about the true status of its population in the Cordilleras, the team added.

The San Roque Power Corp. funds and supports PEF eagle research in Apayao and across the Cordilleras and Caraballo mountains, and the potential translocation of the Philippine eagle in the San Roque watershed.

The research projects are carried out through a MOA and partnership with the DENR.