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Caracaras are members of the family falconidae, but unlike true falcons, are primarily carrion-eaters.
I found the pair of Crested Caracaras pictured below nibbling on a road-killed rabbit at Atwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife
Refuge, in December 2004. Forgive the grainy images, but I was filming through the windshield of my rental car, and it was raining lightly-
I crept up on the pair bit by bit until a car passing the other direction spooked the birds.
By the by, depending on who you ask, this species might be called Northern Caracara- my bird-listing software uses the older name, established before the taxonomic split of Southern Caracara. |
| I have observed Crested Caracaras with increasing frequency as my travels in Panama have led me to the drier Pacific lowlands, although the species has been found recently on the Caribbean slope in Bocas del Toro. The adult bird below was found along a road near El Chirú, Coclé in May of 2006, and the immature bird at bottom was found a few days later at Punta Burica, Chiriquí, where it was only slightly less common than Yellow-headed Caracara. |
| Copyright© Ken Allaire. All rights reserved. Reproduction, modification, or republication of the images or content contained herein without authorization for any purpose or to produce any product is a violation of the copyright herein and is strictly prohibited. |