Habitat: The Crested eagle will prefer very forested areas and foothills. Distribution: This rare species has been reported from Guatemala south very locally to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Natural History Notes: This rare eagle overlaps in range with the Harpy Eagle and they also share some resemblances. However, this species is still not well known. Conservation status according to IUCN 2008 Red list: Near Threatened (NT). Characteristics: The total length of this species varies between 31 inches and 35 inches (measured from tip of bill to end of tail). This large eagle has long and large rounded wings and a very long tail. This bird has a prominent black crest that points toward the sky. The adult bird has two phases: light and dark phase. During the normal phase, the Light phase, the part above is mostly brownish with the head, neck and chest of a pale gray coloration. The lowerparts are white and the tail is black with three large gray bands. The flight feathers have bands of black and gray. During the Dark phase, the coloration pattern is similar but the head, neck and chest are dark gray and the lower underparts are stripped black.