Numbers From the Canopy: teacher key

Harpy Eagles, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. Sizes, speeds and territories for a harpy eagle, with notes on which numbers are reported and where the sources differ.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How long is a harpy eagle's back talon, as reported by zoos and a university museum?
   • About 1 inch
   • Up to about 5 inches (answer)
   • About 5 feet
2. How do reports of the rear talon length differ?
   • All reports say exactly 5 inches
   • No one has reported a length
   • The Peregrine Fund says about 3 to 4 inches and a magazine says up to 7 cm (answer)
3. What does the page say about the 50 mile per hour speed?
   • It does not say how it was measured (answer)
   • It was measured by radar
   • It is a record for all birds
4. In the dark rainforest, which sense matters more to a harpy eagle?
   • Vision
   • Smell
   • Hearing (answer)
5. A harpy eagle can go a week or more without food. What does that tell you?
   • It does not need to eat every day (answer)
   • It eats ten times a day
   • It cannot eat
6. Where is the largest known breeding population of harpy eagles?
   • Belize
   • Panama (answer)
   • El Salvador

Words

• territory: claimed area
• nestling: baby bird
• soaring: gliding on air
• extinct: gone forever