Animal
Southern crested caracara
The southern crested caracara is a big bird with a black cap and a bright orange face. It walks on the ground looking for food.
The southern crested caracara is a large bird of prey from South America and a surprising member of the falcon family. It has a black crest, a bare orange-red face and long yellow legs, and it eats almost anything: dead animals, small creatures and insects.
Caracara plancus is a large, long-legged falcon of open country. The southern form lives in central and southern South America; many authorities now treat it and the northern crested caracara as one species. An opportunistic scavenger and hunter, it is listed as Least Concern and benefits from cleared, grazed land.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the southern crested caracara
The southern crested caracara is a big bird from South America.
It has a black cap on its head and a bright orange face. Its chest is covered in stripes. It has long yellow legs and a strong, hooked beak.
The southern crested caracara is a large bird of prey, about the size of a crow or a duck, with a wingspan of about 1.2 meters. Even though it may look like a hawk, it belongs to the falcon family.
It is easy to recognize: a black cap with a little crest, a bare orange-red face, a pale neck covered in fine stripes, a dark body, a heavy pale beak and long yellow legs. Caracaras spend a lot of time on the ground, walking about in search of food.
Caracara plancus belongs to the falcon family, Falconidae, but it often forages on the ground and eats a wide range of food. Adults measure about 49 to 58 centimeters, weigh about 1.1 to 1.3 kilograms and have a wingspan of about 1.2 meters (Audubon); females are slightly larger.
Its classification has changed back and forth. BirdLife International split the crested caracara into a southern species (C. plancus) and a northern species (C. cheriway) in 2014, but the American Ornithological Society's committees found the two forms mix widely across Amazonia and differ little in DNA, so the IUCN's 2023 assessment treats them as one species again, with two subspecies: the northern C. p. cheriway and the southern C. p. plancus. This page is about the southern birds, C. p. plancus.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.49 to 0.58 m
- Wingspan
- 1.2 to 1.33 m
- Weight
- 1.1 to 1.3 kg
Where it lives
Southern crested caracaras live in South America.
They like open places: grasslands, farms and fields with a few trees. They live from Brazil all the way down to the south of Argentina and Chile.
The southern crested caracara lives in the central and southern parts of South America: Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. It is found as far south as Patagonia, where the photo on this page was taken.
It likes open and partly open country such as grasslands, pastures and farmland with scattered trees and shrubs. It is common in many places, and it does well where forests have been cleared for cattle and sheep.
The IUCN's 2016 assessment of the southern caracara (made while it was treated as a separate species, and since replaced by the 2023 assessment of the whole species) lists it as native and breeding in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The northern form occupies the rest of the species' range, from the southern United States through Central America and northern South America, and the two meet in a broad zone across Amazonia.
Crested caracaras use many open and semi-open habitats (IUCN 2023). The 2016 assessment described the southern population as common and suspected it was increasing, because deforestation, cattle ranching and sheep rearing have created more suitable open habitat.
Continent
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Open and semi-open country of central and southern South America. This map shows the southern form only; the northern crested caracara lives from the southern United States to northern South America.
Places: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay and 26 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Caracaras eat almost anything they can find.
They eat dead animals, bugs, frogs, lizards and small animals. They walk and scratch on the ground to look for food.
Crested caracaras are opportunists: they eat whatever they can find or catch. A lot of their food is carrion, which means animals that are already dead. They also catch small animals such as frogs, lizards, snakes and large insects, and take eggs from nests.
They have many tricks. They walk on the ground and scratch for insects, fly low over open land to surprise small animals, check roads early in the morning for animals hit by cars, and sometimes take food from other birds.
Crested caracaras are generalist scavengers and predators. Audubon lists carrion plus small animals caught alive or found dead, including mammals, birds and their eggs and young, frogs, snakes, lizards, turtles, fish and large insects.
Their foraging is equally varied: hunting in low flight to surprise prey, patrolling roads early in the day for road-killed animals, scratching the ground for insects, digging up turtle eggs and stealing food from other birds. The IUCN notes that the species prefers open areas and tolerates converted and disturbed habitats.
Did you know?
Scientists keep changing their minds about the caracara's name.
Scientists once split crested caracaras into a northern and a southern species, then joined them back into one.
Split in 2014 on plumage differences, northern and southern crested caracaras were reunited after review found widely mixed plumage across Amazonia and little mitochondrial DNA difference.
An amazing body
The caracara has a bare face with no feathers. It is bright orange.
Its long yellow legs are good for walking. It has a strong, hooked beak.
A caracara's face is bare skin with no feathers, colored orange to red. On top of its head is a black cap with a small crest. Its strong, heavy beak is pale bluish to yellowish.
Caracaras have long legs and often walk on the ground. In flight its dark body and wings show four pale patches. Young caracaras are browner than adults.
Field marks include a black crown with a short crest, bare orange-red facial skin and cere, a heavy pale bill, a pale neck and cheeks, a blackish belly and wings, and long yellow legs (Audubon; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). In flight, the dark body and wings show four pale patches.
Southern birds differ subtly from northern ones. The IUCN taxonomic notes, citing Dove and Banks (1999), describe southern caracaras as having dark and light bars across the entire breast and barring from the upper back to the tail, whereas northern birds have spots or wedge-shaped bars on the breast and a black lower back.
Growing up
Caracaras build big nests of sticks.
The mother lays two or three brown, speckled eggs. Both parents look after the eggs and feed the chicks.
Crested caracaras build bulky nests of sticks, usually high in a tree or shrub. The female lays two or three eggs, rarely four, which are pale brown with darker brown blotches.
Both parents take turns keeping the eggs warm for about 30 days, and both bring food to the chicks. The young birds first fly at about 6 to 8 weeks old and may stay with their parents for several more weeks.
Nesting details here come from studies of crested caracaras, mostly in North America (Audubon; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Nests of sticks, weed stalks and vines are placed in the top of a shrub or tree, usually 8 to 50 feet (2.4 to 15 meters) up.
Clutches are of two or three eggs, rarely four, pale brown blotched with darker brown. Both sexes incubate for about 30 days, with the female doing more, especially at night. Both parents feed the young, which fledge at about 6 to 8 weeks and may stay with the adults for several weeks afterward.
A bold, clever bird
Caracaras stay in the same home all year.
They walk around on the ground and perch on trees and posts. They are bold and curious birds.
Adult crested caracaras usually stay in their home area all year round instead of migrating. Young birds may wander a long way before they settle down.
Caracaras are often seen walking on the ground, perched in trees or flying low over open fields. They are not shy about stealing a meal from another bird.
Adults are typically permanent residents on their territories, while young birds may wander considerable distances (Audubon). Much of their foraging is done on foot or in low flight over open ground, and they take food from other birds.
This broad, opportunistic behavior is one reason the IUCN suspects the species is stable or increasing despite local declines: it prefers open areas and tolerates converted and disturbed habitats.
Did you know?
The caracara is part of the falcon family, but it loves to walk.
Caracaras belong to the falcon family, yet they spend lots of time walking on the ground on their long legs.
Caracaras often forage on foot, scratching the ground for insects and searching for carrion (Audubon).
Doing well
There are lots of crested caracaras.
They do well on open farms and ranches.
Crested caracaras are listed as Least Concern. There are millions of them, and in South America the southern form is common, even increasing in places where forests have become pastures.
They do face some dangers. Some are shot, a few are trapped to be sold as pets, pesticides can harm some, and many feed on roads, where they can be hit by cars.
The IUCN's 2023 assessment of the crested caracara (including the southern form) lists it as Least Concern with a stable trend and an estimated 2.5 to 5 million mature individuals, about 2.2 million of them in the northern subspecies cheriway. The 2016 assessment of the southern form alone suspected an increase, as clearing and ranching created open habitat.
Potential threats include shooting, trapping for the cagebird trade (likely only in low numbers), pesticide use and collisions with vehicles. Locally the picture differs: in Florida, the northern population is listed as Threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
IUCN Red List
How is the southern crested caracara doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
Amazing facts
-
The caracara is part of the falcon family, but it loves to walk.
Caracaras belong to the falcon family, yet they spend lots of time walking on the ground on their long legs.
Caracaras often forage on foot, scratching the ground for insects and searching for carrion (Audubon).
-
Caracaras sometimes look for food along roads early in the morning.
Crested caracaras check roads early in the morning for animals hit by cars.
Audubon notes that crested caracaras patrol highways early in the morning for road-killed animals, which also exposes them to vehicle collisions.
-
In flight, a caracara shows four pale patches.
When a caracara flies, you can see four pale patches against its dark body and wings.
Audubon describes the flight pattern: a dark body and wings showing four pale patches.
-
Scientists keep changing their minds about the caracara's name.
Scientists once split crested caracaras into a northern and a southern species, then joined them back into one.
Split in 2014 on plumage differences, northern and southern crested caracaras were reunited after review found widely mixed plumage across Amazonia and little mitochondrial DNA difference.
Words to know
- bird of prey
- a bird with a hooked beak and strong feet that hunts or eats meat
- carrion
- the meat of animals that are already dead
- scavenger
- an animal that feeds on dead animals or leftovers
- crest
- a tuft of feathers on top of a bird's head
- opportunist
- an animal that eats whatever food it finds
- subspecies
- a group within a species that looks a little different and lives in its own area
Discovery challenge
-
What color is a caracara's face?
What does a crested caracara's face look like?
Which feature describes the crested caracara's face?
- Bare orange-red skin
- Covered in blue feathers
- Striped black and white
Show the answer
Bare orange-red skin
Its face is bare and bright orange.
The face is bare skin, orange to red, with no feathers.
Bare yellow-orange to red facial skin and cere, below a black crown and crest.
-
What do caracaras eat?
What kind of eater is a crested caracara?
Which best describes the crested caracara's diet?
- Only seeds
- Almost anything: dead animals, small animals and insects
- Only fruit
Show the answer
Almost anything: dead animals, small animals and insects
They eat almost anything, like dead animals and bugs.
They are opportunists that eat carrion, small animals, eggs and insects.
A generalist scavenger-predator taking carrion and a wide range of small vertebrates and insects.
-
Which family does the caracara belong to?
Which bird family does the crested caracara belong to?
To which family of raptors does Caracara plancus belong?
- Owls
- Parrots
- Falcons
Show the answer
Falcons
The caracara is part of the falcon family.
Even though it walks a lot and eats carrion, it is a member of the falcon family.
It belongs to the falcon family, Falconidae.
-
Where do southern crested caracaras live?
On which continent does the southern crested caracara live?
Where is the southern form of the crested caracara found?
- Africa
- South America
- Australia
Show the answer
South America
They live in South America.
They live in central and southern South America, from Brazil to Argentina and Chile.
Central and southern South America (seven countries); northern birds extend the species' range to North America.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Argentina
Argentina covers most of the southern part of South America. The Andes mountains run down its western side, grassy plains called the Pampas spread across the middle, and windy Patagonia stretches to the far south. INDEC, the national statistics office, estimates that about 46.5 million people lived there in 2026, many of them in and around Buenos Aires.
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Watch
Country
Brazil
Brazil covers about half of South America and is the fifth-largest country in the world. It holds most of the Amazon River basin and much of the world's largest rainforest, and about 214 million people lived there in 2026, most of them near the Atlantic coast.
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Argentina covers most of the southern part of South America. The Andes mountains run down its western side, grassy plains called the Pampas spread across the middle, and windy Patagonia stretches to the far south. INDEC, the national statistics office, estimates that about 46.5 million people lived there in 2026, many of them in and around Buenos Aires.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Identify a crested caracara by its crest, bare face and long legs.
- Explain what a scavenger and an opportunist are.
- Locate the southern caracara's range in South America.
- Understand that scientists sometimes change how they group species, and why.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might eating many kinds of food help an animal survive when the land changes?
- How can scavengers be useful in nature?
- Why do you think scientists argued about whether northern and southern caracaras are one species or two?
Try at home or in class
- Measure 1.2 meters on the floor with string to see how wide a caracara's wings are.
- Make a 'four patch' card: color a bird shape dark and add pale patches on the wingtips, neck and tail, then look at it from across the room.
Key vocabulary: bird of prey, carrion, scavenger, crest, opportunist, subspecies
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Caracara plancus (Crested Caracara), global Red List assessment 2023 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Caracara plancus (Southern Caracara), Red List assessment 2016 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Crested Caracara , National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds
- Audubon's crested caracara , Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.