Far from being relatively featureless like the open ocean, rainforest biomes have a rich three-dimensional structure and possess incredible niche complexity. Here there is only one game in town: hide-and-seek. In response to this, rainforest predators have evolved to become either sit-and-wait specialists, such as canopy-dwelling chameleons and snakes, or master detectives, such as soil-snuffling armadillos. But harpy eagles deserve credit for mastering both of these skills, and then some.
First, they wait. Harpies often sit it out near the places that attract mammalian prey, such as salt-licks and freshwater openings, lunging when the opportunity arises at species including capybaras, anteaters, coatis and, sometimes, small deer. But when they are done with sitting and waiting, harpies work the forest canopy. Moving from branch to branch, they ‘perch-hunt, scanning the canopy…
