Bird of Prey: A Documentary on Saving The Philippine Eagle
Bird of Prey, the multi award-winning feature-length documentary from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, weaves a remarkable story of the world’s rarest eagle species and the heroic individuals working tirelessly to save it. Since its release in 2018, Bird of Prey, has screened to countless audiences around the world and throughout the Philippines where the film has become an invaluable tool for raising awareness and support for conservation of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle.
To learn more about Philippine Eagles and how you can help support their conservation visit: https://www.philippineeaglefoundation.org The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) is a private non-profit organization dedicated to conserving the critically endangered Philippine Eagle, preserving its rainforest habitat, and working with the communities that share its home. In addition to scientific research, public education, and culture-based conservation, they operate the only breeding and rehabilitation facility for the species in the world — the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Davao City.
I am so grateful to the makers of this documentary. It’s beautifully shot, beautifully told, and is a treasure that will be relevant for a very long time.
When I was growing up in The Philippines in the 1990s, I thought even then as a kid that The Philippine Eagle was, by far, the best national bird symbol in the world. As an American, I’m heavily biased towards the Bald Eagle…but head to head…the Philippine Eagle is still the best raptor on Earth. It’s awe inspiring.
But like most birds of prey, it needs a lot of habitat to maintain its population. And land is not something The Philippines has a lot of. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, the Philippine government did right and slowed the deforestation and passed the right laws and policies. The fabulously devoted & effective Philippine Eagle Foundation spearheads monitoring and re-wilding injured individuals.
But now comes the hard, long, fight of actually implementing protection on the ground. This film is part of the effort to develop pride among Filipinos for the bird; to raise funds from individuals around the world passionate about protecting the species; and that trade, purchases, and policies around the world have an effect.
It’s absolutely worth a watch!
