During a recent walk at Berry Springs Park & Preserve in Georgetown, Texas, one of my friends pointed out this Crested Caracara in a distant field. That was a lifer for me. I had heard about this bird of prey but had never encountered one. It was wonderful to watch it move around the field, looking for something to eat.

There is a small irony in that story. Spotting one was a first for me here in the United States, yet back home in Brazil, the carcará is anything but a stranger. It is the bird João do Vale wrote about in “Carcará,” the song Maria Bethânia made famous in 1965 — “Carcará, pega, mata e come” (Caracara, catches, kills, and eats). So in a way, this Texas prairie reintroduced me to an old acquaintance from home.

A Quick Introduction to the Crested Caracara

The Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) is a striking raptor that doesn’t quite behave like the company it keeps. Although it belongs to the falcon family (Falconidae), it looks a little like a hawk, spends much of its time walking on the ground like a vulture, and is — by average body mass — the second-largest falcon in the world, after the gyrfalcon. Adults measure roughly 19 to 23 inches (49–58 cm) long, with a wingspan of about 4 feet (1.2 m) and a weight between 2 pounds 5 ounces and 2 pounds 14 ounces (1.1–1.3 kg).

Up close, it’s unmistakable: a black cap and shaggy crest, a pale buff-white face and throat, a finely barred breast, dark wings and belly, and bright yellow-orange legs. The bare skin of its face ranges from deep yellow to reddish-orange and can actually shift color with the bird’s mood. It is sometimes called the “Mexican eagle,” a nod to the long-running idea that the sacred bird in certain pre-Columbian Aztec imagery may have been a caracara rather than a golden eagle — though it is not a true eagle at all.

What’s on the Menu?

The Crested Caracara is the ultimate opportunist. Carrion — the carcasses of dead animals — makes up the bulk of its diet, and it is bold enough to bully Black and Turkey Vultures off a carcass and take over the meal. When the chance arises, it also hunts live prey: insects, small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crabs, and worms, and it readily raids nests for eggs and young. It will pirate food from other birds, harrying vultures, hawks, pelicans, and ibises until they drop or regurgitate their catch, and it often patrols behind wildfires, farm equipment, and roadsides to grab whatever gets flushed out. A little fruit rounds things out now and then. That field at Berry Springs, with a bird working it on foot, was a perfect picture of how the caracara makes its living.

Where to Find It

In the United States, the Crested Caracara is mostly a bird of the southern edges. Its strongholds here are South Texas and central Florida, with smaller numbers in Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, and occasionally southern California. The Florida birds are a protected, state-listed “relict” population, left over from a warmer, savanna-covered past. In Texas, the species has been steadily expanding northward — which is exactly why a sighting in Georgetown, in Central Texas, is worth noting.

Beyond the U.S., this is fundamentally a bird of the Americas south of the border. It is found in every state of Mexico, throughout Central America, and across most of South America, all the way down to Tierra del Fuego at the continent’s southern tip, as well as on several Caribbean islands and the Falklands. It tends to avoid only the high Andes and the dense, humid core of the Amazon. In short: a true lifer for me in Texas, but a familiar face across most of Latin America — Brazil very much included.

A Few Things That Make It Unusual

A handful of quirks make the caracara hard to forget: it is a falcon that hunts mostly on foot rather than from the air; its facial skin flushes from yellow to red depending on its mood; it routinely outmuscles vultures at a carcass; and there are even documented cases of Black Vultures gently preening a caracara after it lowers its head as if to invite it. For a bird of prey, it has a surprisingly social, scruffy charm.

That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Berry Springs Park and Preserve, Bird of the Week, Crested Caracara, Georgetown, Parks, Texas, and Wildlife. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.

Posted for I.J. Khanewala’s Birds of the Week Invitation CLXIX.

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Sources:

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds — Crested Caracara (Overview & ID) — https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Crested_Caracara/overview
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World — Caracara plancus — https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/y00678/cur/introduction
• National Audubon Society — Audubon Field Guide, Crested Caracara — https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/crested-caracara
• The Peregrine Fund — Crested Caracara — https://www.peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/falcons/crested-caracara
• Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — Audubon’s Crested Caracara — https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/raptors-and-vultures/audubons-crested-caracara/
• Animal Diversity Web — Caracara cheriway (Crested Caracara) — https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Caracara_cheriway/
• Wikipedia — “Crested caracara” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_caracara
• Nova Brasil FM — “Carcará” (João do Vale / Maria Bethânia), song background — https://novabrasilfm.com.br/notas-musicais/maria-bethania-a-historia-da-cancao-carcara