First footage of crested eagle captured in Mexico

Camera traps for biological observation captured the first video recording of a crested eagle ( Morphnus guianensis ), an endangered species, while it drank water and bathed in a pond at the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico.

The National Commission on Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) informed that the video of the specimen had been recorded on May 3rd. The species is mostly distributed in the high jungles of Central and South America .

The presence of the bird of prey in Mexico had been only a legend until 2004 , when it was photographed on the banks of the Lacantún river, within the same biosphere reserve.

Ground keepers and monitors from the Democracia, Las Nubes, Nueva Argentina, and San Mateo common lands ("ejidos") had put the camera traps in place as part of surveillance and biomonitoring activities in the area.

The CONANP pointed out that the crested eagle feeds of terrestrial vertebrates the likes of tlacuaches, monkeys, kinkajous, great curassows, squirrels, iguanas, and snakes. The survival of the species depends on broad extensions of high jungle.

It is estimated that a couple of crested eagles needs to move within a space of around 24,710 acres . However, due to its eating habits, the eagles mostly remain in the jungle canopy.

Due to their low population density, their sighting is very rare.

The crested eagle makes its nest out of branches on big trees such as ceibas, though this conduct may vary depending on the nesting period.

The CONANP underlined that the sighting of this specimen indicated that the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve is adequate for the survival of the Morphnus guianensis species.

dm