"Animals in thePhilippines"

The Philippine eagle

the National Bird

Though already more than 85 to 90 percent of the original tropical forest disappeared because of  legal and especially illegal logging, the Philippines still have a natural environment which is the home for  a very wide range of different birds. Many are to be found in most other humid tropical countries, some species are only to be found in this country. Of the (about) 400 species of birds in the Philippines, several are now very rare and a good number are greatly endangered. 

One of these birds is the Philippine eagle.

Habitat

The Philippine Eagle inhabits the mountain area around Mount Apo on Mindanao. A long time ago, the Philippine Eagle inhabited the mountain forests or clearings of lowland forest  on Luzon, Leyte, Mindanao and Samar. Now, the mount Apo region on Mindanao is the last remaining environment in the Philippines where the eagles live. Most of the time the eagles hide in the forest. Because of the deforestation (the logging), the area to hide became rather small.

Description appearance

  • 75 - 100 cm tall
  • Wing span of two meters
  • Territory of an eagle: 60 - 100 sq kiilometre
  • Crown and crest yellowish with brown shaft streaks
  • Upper parts rich brown with pale pale edges to feathers
  • Tail dark brown with blackish bars and a white tip
  • Feet are yellow

Food of the eagles

The food of the eagles consists mostly of large snakes, hornbills, wild cats, monkeys and flying lemurs. The Philippine Eagle is also known as 'the monkey eating eagle'.

The nests

The eagles build their nests high in one of the giant  trees on natural platforms, about 30 meters off the ground. Adults raise only one young a year. They bring the young a variety of food, including monkeys snatched from treetops. 

The Hornbill

The Hornbill,

a bird living in the tropical forest

In the waters of the Philippines

there are more than 2000 different kinds of fish. Added to that figure, the country counts about 200 different kinds of reptiles and 25000 different insects. The smallest monkey and the biggest fish in the world, they both live in the Philippines! Spectacular is the colourful underwater-world. Every year many tourists come to the Philippines to one of the islands, where scuba diving brings them to this amazing underwater-world.  

The Philippines can show you what a typical tropical country can offer in species of animals. Of course, not all animals are rare or specific for the Philippines. That is for sure if you take the carabao, the cocks or the lizards. 

 

Mga Tokó, as the people in de Visayas call the small lizards, are living in houses and other buildings in every tropical country.