A JUVENILE South Philippine Hawk Eagle was sighted less than 15 meters away from its platform nest perched in a Tega tree in Brgy Mahagnao, Burauen, Leyte, during the media documentation activity on May 18.
Tristan Senarillos, Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) biologist, said the juvenile’s first maiden flight was documented on Sunday, May 17, by the PEF and forest guards of Mahagnao.
The parents of the 11-week-old hawk eagle were documented building a nest in November 2025, accidentally, while monitoring Lakpue, a male Philippine eagle.
Since then PEF strengthened its surveillance and started daily nest observation on January 21, 2026 to capture the movements and breeding behavior of the pair.
“It took 41 days of daily observation to record incubation until it hatched on March 2, 2026,” he said.
This is the first documented active pair in Eastern Visayas and first documented Hawk eagle family full breeding season.
The area where the nest is found is outside the protected area of Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park.
The Protected Area Management Board passed four resolutions to protect the nest site, including the species as part of priority species for long time monitoring, capacity building of stakeholders to increase the pool of people, and a public naming ceremony set during Eagle Week in June.
The South Philippine Hawk Eagle is categorized an endangered species under DAO 2019-09.
Pending the inclusion of the area to the protected area, the PEF, along with local environment officers, displayed wildlife protection notices around the nesting site in English and in local language Waray to enhance protection of the endangered species.
Senarillos said at present, PEF has no information about the territory size of the pair, but recent efforts include trapping and tagging at least one adult and the juvenile to closely monitor their distance from the natal site.
Preparation for the species conservation plan for the raptor is underway.
Photo of the juvenile hawk eagle: Philippine Eagle Foundation
