Caracaras are
birds of preyBirds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as any bird that kills its prey with its talons. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh. In most cases,...
in the family
FalconidaeThe falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that comprise the family Falconidae. The family is divided into two subfamiles, Polyborinae, which includes the caracaras and forest falcons, and Falconinae, the falcons, kestrels and falconets.-Description:Falcons and...
. They are traditionally placed in the subfamily
PolyborinaePolyborinae is a subfamily of the falcon family, Falconidae. It contains the caracaras, forest falcons, and Laughing Falcon. All species in this subfamily are native to the Americas. The composition of Falconidae is disputed, and Polyborninae is not featured in the American Ornithologists' Union...
, but are sometimes considered part of their own subfamily,
Caracarinae, or members of the true falcon subfamily,
FalconinaeFalconinae is a subfamily of the bird family Falconidae. In its traditional classification, it contains the falcons, falconets, and pygmy falcons. Depending on the authority, Falconinae may also include the caracaras and/or the Laughing Falcon....
. Caracaras are principally birds of
SouthSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
and
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
, just reaching the southern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Unlike the
Falco falconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The word comes from their Latin name falco, related to Latin falx because of the shape of these birds' wings.-Overview:...
s in the same family, the
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s in the five relevant genera are not fast-flying aerial hunters, but are comparatively slow and are often
scavengerScavenging, or necrophagy, is a carnivorous feeding behaviour in which a predator consumes corpses or carrion that were not killed to be eaten by the predator or others of its species. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by contributing to the decomposition of dead animal remains...
s (a notable exception being the
Red-throated CaracaraThe Red-throated Caracara is a social species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is placed in the monotypic genus Ibycter, or sometimes united in Daptrius with the Black Caracara...
).
Discussion
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Caracaras are
birds of preyBirds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as any bird that kills its prey with its talons. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh. In most cases,...
in the family
FalconidaeThe falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that comprise the family Falconidae. The family is divided into two subfamiles, Polyborinae, which includes the caracaras and forest falcons, and Falconinae, the falcons, kestrels and falconets.-Description:Falcons and...
. They are traditionally placed in the subfamily
PolyborinaePolyborinae is a subfamily of the falcon family, Falconidae. It contains the caracaras, forest falcons, and Laughing Falcon. All species in this subfamily are native to the Americas. The composition of Falconidae is disputed, and Polyborninae is not featured in the American Ornithologists' Union...
, but are sometimes considered part of their own subfamily,
Caracarinae, or members of the true falcon subfamily,
FalconinaeFalconinae is a subfamily of the bird family Falconidae. In its traditional classification, it contains the falcons, falconets, and pygmy falcons. Depending on the authority, Falconinae may also include the caracaras and/or the Laughing Falcon....
. Caracaras are principally birds of
SouthSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
and
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
, just reaching the southern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Unlike the
Falco falconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The word comes from their Latin name falco, related to Latin falx because of the shape of these birds' wings.-Overview:...
s in the same family, the
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s in the five relevant genera are not fast-flying aerial hunters, but are comparatively slow and are often
scavengerScavenging, or necrophagy, is a carnivorous feeding behaviour in which a predator consumes corpses or carrion that were not killed to be eaten by the predator or others of its species. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by contributing to the decomposition of dead animal remains...
s (a notable exception being the
Red-throated CaracaraThe Red-throated Caracara is a social species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is placed in the monotypic genus Ibycter, or sometimes united in Daptrius with the Black Caracara...
).
Species
- Genus Daptrius
D. ater Vieillot
Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot was a French ornithologist.Vieillot described a large number of birds for the first time, especially those he encountered during the time he spent in the West Indies and North America, and 26 genera established by him are still in use...
, 1816 - Black CaracaraThe Black Caracara is a species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. Its genus Daptrius is often considered monotypic today, though some also include the Red-throated Caracara otherwise separated in Ibycter....
- Genus Ibycter
- I. americanus Boddaert
Pieter Boddaert was a Dutch physician and naturalist.Boddaert was the son of a Middelburg jurist and poet by the same name . Pieter Jr obtained his M.D. at the University of Utrecht in 1764 and there became a lecturer on natural history...
, 1783 - Red-throated CaracaraThe Red-throated Caracara is a social species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is placed in the monotypic genus Ibycter, or sometimes united in Daptrius with the Black Caracara...
(formerly in Daptrius)
- Genus Phalcoboenus
Phalcoboenus is a small genus of birds of prey in the Falconidae family. They are found in barren, open habitats in the Andes, Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. The four species are almost entirely allopatric. The adults are distinctive, with bare yellow, orange or red facial skin and cere, and a...
P. carunculatus Des MursMarc Athanase Parfait Oeillet Des Murs was a French ornithologist.Des Murs published Iconographie Ornithologique in 1849....
, 1853 - Carunculated CaracaraThe Carunculated Caracara is a species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is found in páramo in the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia. It is generally uncommon to fairly common. A highly opportunistic species often seen walking on the ground, it will feed on both carrion and virtually any...
- P. megalopterus Meyen
Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen was a German physician and botanist.Meyen was born in Tilsit. In 1830 he wrote Phytotomie, the first review of plant anatomy...
, 1834 - Mountain CaracaraThe Mountain Caracara is a species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is found in puna and páramo in the Andes, ranging from southern Ecuador, through Peru and Bolivia, to northern Argentina and Chile. It is generally uncommon to fairly common...
- P. albogularis Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" was pivotal in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, though they are barely mentioned in Charles Darwin's book,...
, 1837 - White-throated CaracaraThe White-throated Caracara is a species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is found in grasslands and other barren habitats in the Andes of southern Chile and Argentina. It is generally uncommon to fairly common...
- P. australis Gmelin
Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist and entomologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen...
, 1788 - Striated CaracaraThe Striated Caracara, is a bird of prey of the Falconidae family. In the Falkland Islands it is known as Johnny Rook....
- Genus Caracara
Caracara is a genus of birds of prey in the family Falconidae found throughout a large part of the Americas. They are part of a group collectively referred to as caracaras...
MerremBlasius Merrem was a German naturalist.Merrem was born at Bremen, and studied at the university of Göttingen under Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. He developed an interest in zoology, particularly ornithology...
, 1826
- C. cheriway Jacquin
Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin or Baron Nikolaus von Jacquin. was a Dutch scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany....
, 1784 - Northern (or Crested) Caracara
- C. plancus Miller
John Frederick Miller was an English illustrator, mainly of botanical subjects.Miller was the son of the artist Johann Sebastian Müller . Miller, along with his brother James, produced paintings from the sketches made by Sydney Parkinson on James Cook's first voyage...
, 1777 - Southern CaracaraThe Southern Caracara , also known as the Southern Crested Caracara, is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It formerly included the Northern Caracara of the southern United States, Mexico, Central America and northern South America, and the extinct Guadalupe Caracara as subspecies...
- C. lutosa Ridgway
Robert Ridgway was an American ornithologist.Born in Mount Carmel, Illinois, Ridgway was a protégé of zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird, who, on becoming the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, appointed Ridgway the first full-time curator of birds at the United States National Museum. He...
, 1876 - Guadalupe CaracaraThe Guadalupe Caracara, Caracara lutosa, is an extinct bird of prey belonging to the falcon family . It was, together with the closely related Crested and Southern Caracara, formerly placed in the genus Polyborus. It was also known as the Quelili or the Calalie.This species inhabited Mexico's...
(Extinct, 1903)
- Genus Milvago
Milvago is a genus of bird of prey in the Falconidae family.It contains the following species:* Yellow-headed Caracara, Milvago chimachima* Chimango Caracara, Milvago chimango...
M. chimachima Vieillot, 1816 - Yellow-headed CaracaraThe Yellow-headed Caracara, Milvago chimachima, is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is found in tropical and subtropical South America and the southern portion of Central America...
- M. chimango Vieillot, 1816 - Chimango Caracara
The Chimango Caracara also known as Tiuque is a species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family.It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. It is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands...
Distribution
The caracaras are found throughout much of the
AmericasThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
. The range of the Northern Caracara extends as far north as the states of
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
, and
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. On the other hand, the
Striated CaracaraThe Striated Caracara, is a bird of prey of the Falconidae family. In the Falkland Islands it is known as Johnny Rook....
inhabits the
Falkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located approximately from the coast of mainland South America, from mainland Antarctica, and from Africa. There are two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, as well as 776 smaller islands...
and
Tierra del FuegoTierra del Fuego or TF is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The southern point of the archipelago forms Cape Horn.- History :...
, just off the coast of the southernmost tip of
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
.
See also
- Carakiller, hypothetical descendant of the caracara in the television show The Future Is Wild
The Future Is Wild was a Canadian 2003 joint Animal Planet/ORF and ZDF co-production, which used computer-generated imagery to show the possible future of life on Earth...
.
- Flexiraptor
The Flexiraptor is an extinct species of bird of prey – the only one of its genus known to date – probably related to harriers. It probably resembled a cross between the Secretary Bird and Crested Caracara, and lived during the Early Miocene .Its remains were found in Riversleigh ,...
, a prehistoric bird of prey somewhat convergentConvergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are similar in...
to the caracaras.
External links