Southern crested caracara (Caracara plancus) in flight

Caracaras are

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

in the family

Falconidae The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order Falconiformes). The family is divided into three subfamilies, Herpetotherinae, which inclu ...

. They are traditionally placed in subfamily Polyborinae with the forest falcons, but are sometimes considered to constitute their own subfamily, Caracarinae, or classified as members of the true falcon subfamily, Falconinae. Caracaras are principally birds of

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, just reaching the southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Unlike the ''Falco''

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

s in the same family, the

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s in the five relevant genera are not fast-flying aerial hunters, but are comparatively slow and are often

scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feedin ...

s (a notable exception being the

red-throated caracara The red-throated caracara (''Ibycter americanus'') is a social species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is placed in the monotypic genus ''Ibycter'', or sometimes united in ''Daptrius'' with the black caracara. Unique among caracaras ...

Species

Distribution

The caracaras are found throughout much of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

. The range of the crested caracara extends as far north as the states of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

in the United States. In the Southern Hemisphere, the striated caracara inhabits the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

and

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

, just off the coast of the southernmost tip of South America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Caracara'' Merrem 1826 was previously known as ''Polyborus'' Vieillot 1816. Hence, the differing subfamily names Polyborinae or Caracarinae. In addition, different authors give differing scopes to the subfamily, sometimes including the forest falcons, laughing falcon, or spot-winged falconet. Peters' checklist in 1931 listed the caracaras in their own subfamily, Polyborinae, containing ''Daptrius'', ''Milvago'', ''Phalcobœnus'', and ''Polyborus''. ''Ibycter americanus'' is included as ''Daptrius americanus''. Whilst recognizing "three major, deep divisions in the Falconidae", the South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithologists' Union voted in 2007 to recognize two subfamilies: Herpetotherinae containing the forest falcons; and Falconinae containing the caracaras and true falcons. Based on recent research in molecular genetics, John Boyd places the spot-winged falconet (''Spiziapteryx'') in Caracarinae, and the forest falcons in Herpetotherinae. He also comments that "many of the caracaras are closely related, and it would not be unreasonable to merge ''Ibycter'', ''Milvago'', and ''Phalcoboenus'' into ''Daptrius''".

References

External links

Caracara videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
Information on Florida caracara
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4583899 * Polyborinae