The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) will carefully and constantly monitor the chick of the first bred Pinkser’s Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus pinskeri) hatched last April 2 through its breeding program.
Although the PEF’s conservation breeding program has gained significant advances in the past 20 years, it considers the survival of the Pinsker’s Hawk-Eagle in the wild as the real challenge.
“Hopefully, it will survive and we will be able to improve our breeding techniques of this species through this experience,” said PEF Executive Director Dennis Salvador.
Coming from a natural pair, and weighing a mere 57.2 grams when hatched, the chick underwent an incubation period of 48 days at the PEF conservation breeding facility.
“The fast diminishing forests and destruction of their habitats are still the biggest threats to their survival. We need everyone’s contribution to ensure that the Pinsker’s Hawk-Eagle population will increase, especially in the wild,” Salvador said.
The Pinsker’s Hawk-Eagle, endemic to the Philippines, is a species of bird of prey in the Acciptridae family.
The loss of its natural habitat, which is the subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, threatens its extinction.
This medium-sized eagle’s appearance is light brown on the upper part and its dark brown tail is striped with four to five darker, narrow bands.
It has a barred brown, black and white belly. The head and under parts are reddish-brown with black streaks, while the throat is whitish.
Its wings are broad and rounded and barred flight feathers can be seen in flight.
The PEF’s conservation breeding program made a historic breakthrough with the birth of Pag-asa, the first Philippine Eagle bred and hatched in captivity in 1992. [Lorie A. Cascaro]
