152 Crested caracara in Encontro das Águas State Park Photo by Giles Laurent🦅

Photo: Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesFalconiformesFalconidae
Birds

🦅Crested Caracara

Caracara plancus (J.F.Miller, 1777)

The crested caracara is a bird of prey (raptor) in the falcon family, Falconidae. It was formerly placed in the genus Polyborus before being given in its own genus, Caracara. It is native to and found in the southern and southeastern United States, Mexico and the majority of mainland Latin America, as well as some Caribbean islands. The crested caracara is quite adaptable and hardy, for a species found predominantly in the neotropics; it can be found in a range of environments and ecosystems, including semi-arid and desert climates, maritime or coastal areas, subtropical and tropical forests, temperate regions, plains, swamps, and even in urban areas. Documented, albeit rare, sightings have occurred as far north as Minnesota and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. The southern extent of the crested caracara's distribution can reach as far as Tierra del Fuego and Magallanes Region, Chile.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
7
Photos
2
Measurements
10
vs you
≈ 1/58th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2023.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
1.08 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
38 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Crested Caracara

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
1.08 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 1.35 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.21 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.38 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.04 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.08 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
38 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Omnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Shrubland
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Terrestrial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
1.1 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Crested Caracara yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderFalconiformes
  5. ›familyFalconidae
  6. ›genusCaracara
  7. ›speciesCaracara plancus
Full lineage
  1. classBirds · Aves
  2. orderFalconiformes
  3. familyFalconidae
  4. genusCaracara
All 12 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderFalconiformes
  11. familyFalconidae
  12. genusCaracara
More

More about the Crested Caracara

In other languages
carancho meridional (es), cekulainā karakara (lv), gribbkarakara (nb), kuifcaracara (nl), karakara czubata (pl), tofskarakara (sv) … and 24 more languages

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