Noah Strycker is the author of Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World.From his Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: Of the 6,000-plus bird species you saw during your record-breaking year, were there any that particularly impressed you?--Marshal Zeringue
A: In Brazil, near the beginning of the year, I saw a Harpy Eagle, the most powerful raptor in the western hemisphere. The Harpy lives only in large rainforests in South and Central America, and eats monkeys and sloths.
I was lucky to stake out a nest near the Pantanal in central Brazil, where the male Harpy Eagle flew in carrying half a coati (a raccoon-like animal) in its talons, which are as long as a grizzly bear's claws. When it spreads out its toes, this eagle's feet are the same circumference as a dinner plate. That bird is...[read on]