The Philippine Eagle
Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2014
The
Philippine Eagle
By Apolinario Villalobos
The Philippine Eagle that we know today was
actually, known before as “monkey-eating eagle”, a misnomer because, the bird
does not only live on monkeys but other creatures of the forest, as well.
The former management of Philippine
Airlines has been a big help in boosting the effort of foreign researchers to
put to light one of the country’s rarest birds, thereby preventing its
relegation into extinction. It took foreign naturalists steely will power to
drum up attention to the plight of the to-be-extinct rare bird, before some
local agencies were woken up. Foremost of these groups based in the country was
the Haribon Society, a birdwatching organization founded by Alicia Busser in late ‘70s. The
name refers to the Philippine Eagle, the “hari ng ibon” (king of the birds),
compressed into “haribon”, and their logo, that of the eagle’s face. The
members were expatriates living in the Philippines, who took time in visiting
forested areas to record different endemic bird species. A Filipino member was
Ed Buensuceso, supervisor of PAL Tours and Promotions’ Research and Development
Unit.
During the last week of January 1978, Ed
Buensuceso told me prepare for a trek up Mt. Apo, but this time, for another
purpose. I found out later that it had got to do with the filming of the
breeding of the Philippine Eagle by FREE (Film Research of Endangered
Environment, Ltd.) on one of the slopes of Mt. Apo. FREE was composed of four
adventurous and young Americans, namely, Robert Kennedy, Wolfgang Salb, Neil
Rettig and Alan Degen. The project was funded by the National Geographic. A
telex about the death of the eaglet which was being monitored prompted Ed to
hasten to the site with me to chronicle the event.
As planned, I went ahead to notify the
local forestry in Davao of our intention. The following day, Ed and Wolfgang
arrived from Manila. We immediately left for the filming site on a jeep that
the FREE team rented for the duration of their project. Wolfgang handled the
wheel expertly that even the rocky dirt road did not slow him a bit. We swayed
to the crazy motion of the seemingly fragile machine which was actually
designed for such kind of terrain.
We reached Baracatan after an hour of being
juggled inside the jeep. I was dizzy but as soon as we got down several feet
from the cabin of Ron Kruppa, I forgot how tired I was. Ron was a volunteer naturalist who supervised
the Parks and Wildlife Division of the Department of Natural Resources’
breeding program for the Philippine Eagle in Baracatan. The agency has been
renamed, DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources). He was taking
care of the Philippine Eagle in captivity. At last, I have seen my first
Philippine Eagle, up close!
The eagle’s eyes pierced mine with such
hypnotizing effect that right at that moment, I realized why it’s given such
respect that it deserve. Its piercing look sent a cold sensation down my spine.
The tuft of fine feathers on its crest gave it a regal look. I would say, its
beak could make anyone tremble, and its powerful claws add respectability to
its appearance. Ron coaxed the bird to his leather-gloved left arm. In the
process, it spread its wings much to our delight.
After lingering in the camp for about
twenty minutes, we went back to the jeep and traced our way back to the
junction that led to Matundo, which we reached at past four in the afternoon.
We almost failed to find porters as it was already late. Two kind natives
fortunately, gave in to our request. As soon as everything was settled
regarding the fee and other conditions, we started our trek to the campsite.
It was not just an ordinary trek as I found
out later. Precipitous and narrow trails cut from the rocky face of the
mountain made us gasp for air, as we gained altitude. My legs became wobbly as
Ed and I made several ascents and descents. Darkness enveloped us in a forest,
about three kilometers from the camp. From time to time, we rested during which
I found time to massage my aching legs. The long strides of Wolfgang brought
him very much ahead of us to the camp.
Finally, after almost an hour of downhill
trek and hike over plowed cornfield, we reached the camp, a wooden two-room
structure where we found Wolfgang, Alan and Neil having an early evening chat.
We joined them and after a shot of rum, I somewhat regained some of my
strength.
Early the following morning, Wolfgang, Ed
and I went to the “blind” or “Lookout”, a camouflaged platform built on the
slope of the ravine among the bushes and ferns. It was so near the nest which
was meticulously built on a branch of a big tree. I peeked through the
high-powered telescope that brought the nest nearer and just imagined the
eaglet that should have been there. The poor eaglet, we were told, was choked
by a bone that caused its death. With the eaglet gone, we were hoping that its
mother would still visit the nest.
We patiently waited, from time to time
listening to bird calls coming from around the area. The wait gave Wolfgang the
chance to relate to us how they patiently cleared and blazed trails, with only
the hope of finding the nesting eagle, prodding them on.
At high noon, it came. Warning and distress
calls of preys filled the ravine. Soon, we saw in just a very short moment the
sleek figure of the bird dart by. It soared up, reduced to a mere dot against
the blue sky. After that rare moment, I went back to the camp, leaving Ed and
Wolfgang in the “blind”.
In the camp I played with “tariktik”, the
team’s feathered mascot. It was such a tame hornbill that they let it explore
every nook of the house. It was even privileged to scatter its droppings around
which the team would patiently scoop up in the morning.
A couple of hours later, Ed and Wolfgang
transferred the telescope near the camp. I was told that the eagle came back
several times after I left them.
Based on the team’s journal, the first
sighting was made on December 6, 1977, but while they were situated in a
different location. Robert Kennedy, wrote in the journal, that on such day, he
first heard the bird’s call and later on, it appeared with a brown prey, which
he presumed to be a flying lemur. Later, it was joined by another that Robert
suspected to be the mate. Both glided towards a big tree not far from where he
was hidden. He saw that one of the eagles with the prey landed on a large
epiphyte fern growing on the last main fork of the tree’s crown. He suspected
it to be a nest. After patiently observing one of them, tearing off green
sprigs with its bill and flying back to the suspected nest, he finally, concluded
that he discovered the nest!
Robert added in the journal that Wolfgang
has also observed the ongoing from where he was situated. He located the perch
of Wolfgang who let out a Tarzan-like call.
He saw Wolfgang jumping up and down with excitement while pointing at
the same branch that he was closely watching.
The December 7 entry of their journal
contained information on how they finally confirmed their suspicion about the
nest on the huge tree. They made another “blind” very near the nest so that
they could make a closer observation. That was the “blind” that Ed and I found.
Their binoculars caught a “white object” in the middle of the nest. In just a
little while, the female eagle glided down into the nest and positioned herself
as if to incubate. So that’s it, they found the nest with the egg!
The egg hatched on December 23, and since
the normal incubation period of the egg was reportedly 60 days, the laying was
suspected to be on October 24. Based on findings, the eagles usually initiate
their breeding activities at the start of the rainy season. Both the male and
female took turns in incubating the egg, with the latter, giving its bigger
share at about 70% of the effort. The male hunted and brought food to the
female but their feeding took place outside the nest. When the egg hatched, the
female alone brooded over and fed the chick. The male continued hunting, and
that time, brought the food directly to the nest. The recorded food brought to
the nest were, monkeys, flying lemurs, flying squirrels, a rufous hornbill and
several unidentified animals. The female fed the chick three to seven times a
day.
Unfortunately, the eaglet got chocked by a
bone, after just merely a month after it was hatched. The heart-breaking
incident made the team decide to look for other sites where they could make
another documentary on the eagle, hopefully, from their mating to the hatching
of their egg. They decided to try the thick forests of Bislig, an industrial
town of Surigao.
After so many years, the then, monkey-eating
eagle, and now Philippine Eagle has become one of the symbols of the country.
The Baracatan Breeding Station at Baracatan, Davao del Sur has flourished with
the success of DENR’s breeding-in-captivity program for the rare bird. The
station is along the trail that Mt. Apo climbers take if they want to start
from the Davao side. The other starting points for the Mt. Apo climb, are
Makilala and Kidapawan, both of North Cotabato province.
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