Audubon’s Crested
Caracara
Polyborus plancus
audubonii
- A large,
long-legged, hawk-like bird with rounded wings. Typically between 53 to 58
centimeters with a wingspan of around 1.2 meters. Dark brown with black cap
and bare red face; throat, neck, and base of tail white; tip of
tail has black band.
Both sexes are similarly plumaged.
- Found in
greatest abundance in a five-county area north and west of Lake
Okeechobee. Seen
throughout southern Florida to a less degree.
- Status: Threatened (7/6/87)
- Adult
caracaras tend to spread thinly over a wide area, with each pair
maintaining a large territory. A bird of open country,
this bird prefers dry prairies with wetter areas and scattered
cabbage palm.
- An
opportunistic feeder; its diet includes both carrion and living
prey. Living prey are
usually small turtles and turtle eggs. Will also prey upon
insects, fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, birds, and small mammals.
- Caracaras
maintain large territories, usually with their mates. Pair bonds are strong,
persisting until one of the mates dies.
- A
“non-cooperative breeding” bird species
- Breeding
season has its peak from January to March, with the usual clutch
consisting of two to three eggs.
- Nests are a
bulky structure comprised of slender vines and sticks, usually
located in a cabbage palm.
- Incubation
lasts about 32 days, and the young leave the nest at about 8 weeks
of age. The family
group usually remains together for 2 to 3 months after the young
fledge.
- The main
threat to this bird is man.
Despite protection by state and federal laws, caracaras are
killed in the belief that they are serious predators on newborn
calves or because their large size and conspicuousness makes them
a tempting target.
- Also known
as: “Mexican eagle” or “Mexican buzzard”
Page by Patrick
Greene | 
