Breeding of Ph Eagle in Apayao continues

THE PHILIPPINE Eagle continues to nest in Apayao province, particularly in Calansan where 15 of them are currently roaming the forest

Apayao Governor Elias Bulut Jr. reiterated the efforts the province in undertaking to preserve and protect the Philippine Eagles.

“The area of Calanasan which was declared as a sanctuary through our efforts in partnering with the United States Foreign Service will include this area within the 286,000

hectare protected areas and biodiversity under UNESCO. We are now doing the legwork with four of our provincial employees undergoing training in the United States Foreign Service, aside from our partnership with the Philippine Eagle Foundation who provided technical people who have identified new species and discoveries in the area,” Bulut said.

In April 2015, the first Philippine Eagle nest on Luzon with a downy chick was finally located by the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) biologists and Isnag research assistants in the lush lowland forests of Apayao.

Finding the elusive nest involved a total of 3,456 hours of observations equivalent to watching television 24/7 for over three months straight.

The field work spanned five years in rugged and remote jungles with observers spending time mostly on platforms atop trees, scanning ridges and valleys for the highly secretive national bird.

“These Philippine Eagles are similar to that in Davao. There are 15 eagles in Calanasan but we still have not included those in Cabugao and Conner because what we want to do is to perfect the management of the eagles in the initial municipality and replicate the management with the other municipalities,” the governor explained.

At present, the area where in Calanasan where the Philippine Eagles are staying is still not open for bird watching since the provincial government together with their German partner who developed the drone is still in the process of conducting search initiatives aside from the tagging of the eagles.

In 2015, the tedious nest search tested the team’s skills, patience and determination of the PEF Biologist and expedition team headed by Tatiana Abaño.

The adult eagles from Apayao was measured to have a wing span of 1 1/2 meters which would take 4 years for a female to conceive an egg, three months for it to hatch and around five months before it could fly.