Food Web
A bird's feet determine what it eats. Looking at a Harpy Eagle's feet, it is unquestionable that these birds were built for hunting reasonably large-sized prey. Their powerful legs and feet and long sharp talons are designed to catch prey that would be unimaginable for most other birds. Harpy Eagles have a varied diet. They are able to fly between trees and branches with amazing agility and maneuverability for their large size and are specialized at catching arboreal animals, or animals that spend all or much of their lives in trees. This can include iguanas, parrots, porcupines, coatimundis, and raccoons. Though the birds prefer to hunt high up the trees, they will also hunt ground dwelling animals such as the two-toed sloth which is one of their primary food sources. The food web of a Harpy Eagle consists of a tertiary consumer, being the Harpy Eagle, a primary consumer being the Pygmy Sloth, two secondary consumers the Squirrel Monkey and Cappuccino Monkey, a single primary producer, the Cecropia Tree and two detrivores (meaning they eat decaying or dead matter), Earth Worms and Termites.
Importance of the Harpy Eagle in it's rainforest ecosystem
Harpy eagles are apex (top of the food chain) predators of their rain forest ecosystems. Like most predators, they aid in keeping prey populations under control. They have an important role in controlling mesopredators which are medium-sized predators which often increase in abundance when larger predators are eliminated, such as Capuchin monkeys. They are also what is known as an umbrella species. Umbrella species is a word given to top predators which protect smaller fragile species, much like when it rains a person can protect people from the rain, thus the term. To protect the eagles, we must protect the monkeys and sloths and other animals they need for food, the plants and animals that monkeys and sloths feed on, and the trees that Harpy Eagles nest in, which helps protect the other animals that also rely on the trees. Conserving Harpy Eagles and their habitat automatically ensures protection for all the other plants and animals that live there too.