Wild and Kind Kids Podcast
Wild and Kind Kids is a podcast for families who love animals: the furry, feathery, scaly, and wiggly ones! Each episode invites kids (and their grown-ups) to get curious about how creatures big and small live, play, and help our planet. Hosted by a mom and her two curious kids, it’s part storytelling, part sound adventure, and all about growing a wilder, kinder world — one animal at a time.
Wild and Kind Kids Podcast
The Harpy Eagle
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What if one of the most powerful birds in the rainforest was afraid to leave the nest?
High in the Amazon rainforest, a young harpy eagle named Tupi has enormous feet, powerful wings, and talons that look like they belong on a dinosaur. There’s just one problem. Tupi does not want to fly. When an unexpected visitor discovers her secret, Tupi begins to wonder if being brave means waiting until you’re no longer scared, or trying something new while the scared feeling is still there.
Together, we’ll explore how the harpy eagle is built for life high in the tropical rainforest:
- How short, broad wings and a long tail help these powerful birds maneuver around rainforest trees and vines
- How special facial feathers may help funnel sounds toward their ears while hunting
- Why harpy eagles sometimes wait for hours in a single tree for the right hunting opportunity
Then we’ll connect Tupi’s story back to real harpy eagle science, including their enormous nests, sometimes built more than 100 feet above the forest floor, and what it means when a young bird finally “fledges” and leaves the nest.
Wild and Kind Kids combines original animal stories with real science to help kids understand how animals live, adapt, and grow. It’s a screen-free science podcast for curious kids ages 3–8 and their grown-ups, perfect for car rides, homeschool science, classroom listening, or a quiet story together.
And this week’s Wild & Kind Mission takes us somewhere unexpected: the grocery store. Kids can become Shade Detectives, looking with their grown-ups for foods grown in ways that help protect tree cover and wildlife habitat. (See more about Smithsonian Bird Friendly here.)
Keep exploring:
- Download a harpy eagle coloring sheet
- Follow us on Instagram @wildandkindkidspod
- Find more resources or request an animal at wildandkindkids.com
Learn along with us and explore some of the resources we consulted:
- 10 fun facts about the harpy eagle (Audubon Society)
- Harpy eagle (The Peregrine Fund)
- Harpy eagle (San Diego Zoo)
Hi friends. It is time for wild and kind kids. And that means it's time to move. Let's start by getting all of our wiggles out. All right, that's right.
SPEAKER_01I want you to move your hands, your feet, your head. That will make a lot of noise.
SPEAKER_00That's okay for right now. Just move how you like to move. Now freeze. Stay frozen.
SPEAKER_01Fall it.
SPEAKER_00You can breathe. You can move your eyes, but try to stay still. Don't move. Can you hold it? A little longer? Now. Stop. Why did you fall? All right, you all can move again. Alright, kids, was it hard to stay still?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00Not really. Okay. Well imagine staying still and just watching the world around you for 30 minutes. An hour? What? What about hours and hours? Because today's animal is an expert at waiting. It can sit high in the rainforest canopy, watching and listening until it spots exactly what it's looking for. Let's get learning. I'm Carrie, and I grew up on a zoo. I'm Lincoln.
SPEAKER_01I'm Eysa. And we're wild about animals.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the Wild and Kind Kids Podcast. Hi, Lincoln and Eliza. Hi. We are covering a super cool animal today. And it was suggested by Henry, who lives in Connecticut.
SPEAKER_01Hi, Henry.
SPEAKER_00Hi, Henry. When Henry wrote in, he told us that this is his favorite animal to play Pretend As.
SPEAKER_01I like to pretend sometimes to be a Tasmanian devil.
SPEAKER_00Well, today's animal is not a Tasmanian devil. And let's see if our listeners can get it in three. Today's animal is one of the most powerful birds on earth. It lives in the rainforest where it hunts monkeys and sloths. And it was the inspiration for the appearance of Fox in the Harry Potter movies. Do y'all know what it is?
SPEAKER_01Harpy Eagle!
SPEAKER_00Oh yes, and Henry actually included some of those facts in his note to us. Now, the harpy eagle is not the biggest bird of prey. Bird of prey is what we call birds that actually eat other invertebrates. So it's not the biggest, but it is one of the most powerful. A grown harpy eagle can stand more than three feet tall. That's about as tall as some of our youngest wild and kind listeners. They have these dark gray feathers across their backs and wings, with white bellies and a dark band across their chests. And on top of their heads, they have a crown of feathers called a crest. And when they raise those feathers up, their heads can look almost twice as big. And it really makes them stand out. Y'all, I highly encourage you to look up a picture of the harpy eagle. Because to see one in the wild, you'd have to travel all the way to the tropical forests of southern Mexico, Central America, and South America. Harpy eagles spend most of their time high in the rainforest canopy. That's that leafy upper part of the rainforest. Okay, Lincoln and Eliza, what do you know about the harpy eagle?
SPEAKER_01Harpy eagles have huge feet. Their talons can be as long as a grizzly bear's claws.
SPEAKER_00Yes! Harpy eagles have pretty big legs for a bird. So, kids, I want you to look at your wrist. That is about the same width as a harpy eagle's legs. Now, imagine that instead of fingernails coming from your fingers, you had these long curved claws. On a bird of prey, those claws are called talons. And harpy eagles have some of the biggest talons of any eagle. The talon on their back foot can grow to about five inches long. And like Lincoln said, that's about as long as the claw of a grizzly bear. Now those giant feet and talons help harpy eagles grab onto animals like monkeys and sloths and hold them tight as they carry them away. In fact, a harpy eagle sometimes grabs and flies with prey that's almost as heavy as it is. Wild! What else, y'all?
SPEAKER_01Harpy eagles are made for zooming through the rainforest.
SPEAKER_00They really are. Now, you might think that one of the most powerful eagles in the world would have the longest wings. But harpy eagles have kind of short, broad wings for their size. But that is perfect for where they live. So, y'all, imagine trying to run through a room of furniture with your arms stretched all the way out to the sides.
SPEAKER_01We'd probably hit a whole bunch of stuff. Yeah, I'm pretty fascinating. And we might fall on the couch, too. Well, we could trip over Rambo.
SPEAKER_00Yes, we could hit something or our dog. Yeah, you'd keep bumping into things. Well, harpy eagles have to fly around tree trunks, branches, vines, leaves. Those broad wings, along with their long tails, really help them turn and maneuver through the crowded rainforest. They can even zoom up to 50 miles per hour during a serious chase, which is how fast your car might go on a two-lane road. Okay, what else, y'all?
SPEAKER_01Harpy eagles can move the feathers on their faces to help them hear.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and this is so cool. So if you look at the face of a harpy eagle, you might notice it has a circle of special feathers called a facial disc. So, kids, where have you heard of that before? What other animal?
SPEAKER_01Owls.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Owls have these facial discs too. Now a harpy eagle can raise and lower those feathers. When they're raised, the feathers help collect sounds and direct them towards the eagle's ears. And that is pretty useful when you're hunting in a rainforest. A monkey or a sloth might be hidden beneath leaves where it's really hard to see. But the harpy eagle may still be able to hear it moving. Now they also have incredibly sharp eyesight. One can actually spot something smaller than your thumb from about two football fields away. Alright, y'all. One more fact.
SPEAKER_01Harpy eagles can wait in the same tree, but hours and hours before they hunt. I can't even wait a minute for a snack.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that is true on both fronts. So remember when we stayed still at the beginning of the episode? Well, harpy eagles are much better at it than we are. Instead of flying around the rainforest all day looking for food, they often use something called perch hunting. Perch hunting is basically what it sounds like. They find a good perch, like a branch where they can sit for a long time, and they watch, and they listen, and they wait. Harpy eagles have been observed spending incredibly long periods of time in the same tree. Some scientists say up to 23 hours, basically a whole day. It's important to remember they're not frozen like statues, even though we did that. They can look around, move their feathers, and shift their bodies. They're simply staying in one hunting spot, patiently waiting for the next opportunity. And when they finally spot or hear something, well, all those adaptations we've talked about come together. They're incredible senses to spot their prey. Their wings and a tail built to maneuver through the forest, and those enormous feet and talons to grab whatever they find. Are we ready to meet one up close? It's time for our story of the day. Today, we're heading to the Amazon Rainforest, where giant trees stretch high into the sky, forming a leafy roof above the forest floor. And in this little patch of rainforest, one tree seemed to tower above the rest. It was enormous, and near the very top, where the trunk split into thick branches, sat a nest. A huge nest. It was made of crisscrossing sticks and strong branches, and it was so big, you could probably lie down inside it with room to spare. But this giant nest was home to one of the rainforest's most powerful families, the Harpy Eagles. And today, standing right in the middle of that giant nest was Toopy. Toopy was almost as big as her parents now. She had enormous feet, powerful wings, and talons that looked like they belonged to a dinosaur. Her parents often watched her toddle around the nest, and they said that one day Toopy might even be a stronger hunter than they were. Except there was just one problem. Toopy did not want to leave the nest ever. And that was going to make it very, very difficult for her to hunt anything. Every day, Toopy's parents flew from the nest. And every day, Toopy watched. She would toddle to the edge of that giant nest, look down, way down, and then back up. Nope. The next day, she'd try again. She would look down, way down. Nope, not today. And so it went. Until one morning, something moved in the leaves beside Toopy's nest. A tiny face popped out. It belonged to a pygmy marmoset. A fuzzy faced little primate with a long tail. And at this particular moment, very wide eyes. The marmoset froze. He looked at the giant bird in front of him. Giant feet. Powerful wings. Huge talons. Gulp. A harpy eagle. The marmoset waited for Toopy to take flight, to swoop toward him. But Toopy didn't move. The marmoset waited. Toopy looked at him. She considered what to do. Then Toopy looked over the edge of the nest. Way down. The marmoset blinked. Wait, he said, suddenly realizing what was happening. You're scared? Toopy frowned. No. The marmoset pointed toward the edge of the nest.
SPEAKER_01Then fly.
SPEAKER_00Toopy looked down.
SPEAKER_01I'm busy. Doing what? Redecorating.
SPEAKER_00Toopy picked up a stick and moved it three inches to the left.
SPEAKER_01There.
SPEAKER_00The marmoset blinked.
SPEAKER_01Very bold choice.
SPEAKER_00The marmoset scampered onto a nearby branch.
SPEAKER_01I don't understand. You're a harpy eagle. I know. You're one of the most powerful birds in the rainforest. I know. Your claws are like as big as my face.
SPEAKER_00Toopy looked at her feet.
SPEAKER_01True. I should be scared of you. Also true. And you're afraid to fly?
SPEAKER_00Toopy's feathers drooped.
SPEAKER_01I've never done it before.
SPEAKER_00Toopy said quietly. The marmoset stopped.
unknownOh.
SPEAKER_00Toopy looked over the edge again.
SPEAKER_01I know I have wings, but I've never used them before. I know I'm supposed to fly, but knowing you can do something isn't the same as knowing what it'll feel like when you actually do it.
SPEAKER_00The marmoset thought about this. That made a lot of sense. There were things that scared him too. Once, he had spent an entire morning trying to jump between two branches. It wasn't even a big jump, the marmoset admitted. How big was it? The marmoset held his tiny hands apart. This big Toopy stared at him. The marmoset lowered his hands.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it felt bigger.
SPEAKER_00For the first time all morning, Toopy laughed. The marmoset smiled and scampered away through the leaves. Toopy was alone again, left behind to keep staring at the ground. Way down there. Then Toopy heard another sound and realized she wasn't alone. Her father was in a nearby tree. Her mother was on a branch below. They had been doing this a lot lately. Flying away, coming back, waiting. They weren't pushing her. They weren't pulling her. They were just there. Toopy stepped toward the edge. She stretched out one wing, then the other. Her wings felt broad and strong. She flapped them once. She looked down. Her heart was beating so fast. She could stay in the nest. It was safe there. It was comfortable there. She knew exactly how to be a harpy eagle in a nest. But Toopy thought about what she told the marmoset. Knowing you could do something wasn't the same as knowing what it would feel like to do it. There was only one way to find out. Toopy took one step forward, then another. Her enormous feet curled around the edge of the nest. Her mother was below. Her father was nearby. Toopy breathed in. Then she jumped. For one tiny moment, Toopy dropped. Her stomach seemed to drop three times as fast. Then whoosh. Her wings opened. The air caught beneath them. Toopy flapped once, twice. She kind of wobbled to one side, then the other. Her feet felt enormous dangling below her. But she kept going until suddenly she wasn't falling. She was flying. And goodness, it felt good. Toopy gave another powerful flap and headed back toward the branch where her mother was waiting. She stuck out her feet, reached for the branch, and Toopy landed. Hard. It was not the smoothest of landings. One wing went up, the other went down, her tail swung sideways, and for a moment, one of the most powerful birds in the world looked very much like she might fall off a branch. But she didn't. Toopy stood up. Her mother leaned over and touched her beak to hers. Her father watched from above. Toopy looked around. She actually hadn't flown that far. Kind of like the marmoset, hadn't jumped that far. But it felt good. She certainly wasn't ready to hunt yet, but she had left the nest, and she was still a little scared. That was the surprising part. She thought that being brave would make that scared feeling disappear. It hadn't. She had just done something scary anyway. A few branches away, two tiny marmoset feet stopped at the edge of a gap. The marmoset looked down. It wasn't a big gap, but it felt bigger. He looked across the rainforest at Tupi, now standing beside her mother on a brand new branch. The marmoset smiled. He took a deep breath. He bent his tiny legs and jumped. As always, y'all, our story has a real science connection. First, Toopy's enormous nest. That was not story magic. Harpy eagle nests can be five or six feet across. That means a grown-up human could actually lie down inside one. Whoa. But I hope you're not afraid of heights because harpy eagles build those giant nests high in some of the tallest trees in the rainforest. Sometimes more than 100 feet off the ground.
SPEAKER_01That is mom's worst nightmare. She's super scared of heights.
SPEAKER_00Okay, that's that's true. A harpy eagle nest is super cool and also kind of my worst nightmare to think about. But that is where a tiny harpy eagle begins its life. And it doesn't stay tiny for long. By around five or six months old, a young harpy eagle is nearly adult-sized and it's getting ready to fledge. That means leave the nest and fly. And just like Tuopy, those first flights can be a little wobbly. But here's my favorite part. Leaving the nest doesn't mean leaving mom and dad. Young harpy eagles stay close to their parents for a long time, sometimes a year or more, while they learn how to hunt and survive on their own. And that is unusually long for a bird. Some baby birds leave their nests when they're only a couple of weeks old and they're on their own just weeks later. But young harpy eagles have a lot to learn, including how to hunt for themselves. So Tuopy's first flight wasn't the end of her childhood. It was just her first big leap into the wild.
SPEAKER_01Now it's time for your wild and kind mission.
SPEAKER_00Harpy eagles need big, healthy forests to survive. But in many places, those forests are disappearing as trees are cut down. So this week, your mission is to shop for the shade. Yeah. The choices we make at the grocery store can actually help wild animals. Some foods can be grown beneath a canopy of trees instead of on land where most of the trees have been cleared away. We call those shade grown. And those trees matter. They provide food, shelter, and habitat for birds and other wildlife. So the next time you're at the grocery store, become a shade detective. With your grown-up, you can look at labels to see if you can find something that was grown with forests and wildlife in mind. If your grown-up drinks coffee, that's a great place to start. You can look together for coffee labeled shade grown, or see if you can spot the Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification. That means the coffee was grown on farms that protect tree cover and provide habitat for birds. We'll put some more information in our episode resources. But for now, if someone asks you, why are you studying that coffee bag so carefully? You can tell them, I'm shopping for the shade.
SPEAKER_01Because more trees means more homes for all the animals. Before we go, it's time for wild and kind trivia.
SPEAKER_00So last week we tried to trip you up with clues about a duck. But honestly, many aquatic birds would have probably fit that riddle. And this week, Lincoln wants to make it really hard, right? Alright, y'all. Are you ready for another chance to test your animal smarts? Here we go.
SPEAKER_01I have whiskers. I don't have fur, and I don't have scales. What animal am I?
SPEAKER_00Huh. You did not give us a lot to go on there, but I think our listeners can get it. Debate it with your family, y'all, and tune in next time to hear the answer.
SPEAKER_01See you then, long guide kids.
SPEAKER_00This podcast is produced by John, also known as Lincoln and Eliza's dad. If you're enjoying these adventures, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave us a review and tell your friends. To find a coloring sheet for today's creature, explore more episodes, or request an animal for a future story, visit wild and kindkids.com. You can also find us on Instagram at Wild and Kind Kids Pod. Thanks for exploring with us, friends. Until next time.
SPEAKER_01And your curiosity wild.