92 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



CARACARAS 



Order Raptores ; suborder Falconcs ; family FalconidcB ; subfamily PolyborincE 



]HE Caracaras are vulture-like Hawks found chiefly in Central and South 

 America. They are diurnal birds of prey. The name is an attempt to repro- 

 duce in syllables the bird's raucous cry. All of the species have long, unfeathered 

 legs and plumage in which black and white predominate. The feathers on 

 the crown are elongated sufficiently to form a crest which can be raised at 

 will, and there are well developed bristles on the cheeks. The Caracaras 

 are essentiallj' carrion feeders and for this reason they are valuable, especially 

 in the cattle-raising regions in South America where they have become quite 

 abundant. "Their flight is strong, rapid, and direct, and bears no resemblance 

 to that of a Vulture." (Chapman). 



The Caracaras are divided into three genera, Polyborus, Milvago, and 



Ibycter, of which the first-named comprises four species, including the Audubon Caracara. 

 All of these birds build in trees, or on ledges, large nests composed of sticks and leaves, and 

 lay two or three eggs thickly speckled and blotched. 



General Description. — Length. 25 inches 

 parts whitish, barred with black; rest of plumage black. 

 Skin of face nearly bare, the chin and sides of head 

 having blackish bristles ; bill, long, compressed, and 

 slightly hooked ; tarsus, nearly twice as long as middle 

 toe without claw. 



Color. — Adults : Throat, neck all around, front 

 part of back, and breast, dull whitish barred with black; 

 upper and under tail-coverts, white; tail dull white 

 with numerous bars of blackish, the terminal one being 

 much broader than the others; crown and rest of 

 plumage, blackish ; bill, dull horn ; cere, red or yellow ; 

 feet, yellow; claws, black; iris, brown. Young: Plum- 



AUDUBON'S CARACARA 

 Polyborus cheriway (Jacquin) 



A. O. U. Number 362 



Fore age more brown, darker markings of body, longitudinal 



streaks, not transverse bars ; tail, as in adult. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Built in trees, bushes, 

 sometimes in cliffs ; large bulky structures composed of 

 branches lined with small sticks, roots, and grasses, and 

 witli a slight depression. Eggs: 2 or 3, light chestnut 

 to dark reddish or umber-brown, speckled, blotched, or 

 clouded with yellowish or rufous-brown, burnt-umber, 

 or purple madder, sometimes distributed over entire 

 egg; in others more numerous at one end. 



Distribution. — Northern Lower California, Arizona, 

 Texas, and Florida south to Guiana and Ecuador; acci- 

 dental in Ontario. 



Photn by O. E. Baynard Courtesy of Nat. Asso. Aud. Soc. 



AUDUBON'S CARACARA. ONE DAY OLD, AT EDGE OF 



NEST 



Perched upright in the cactus or niesquite, with 

 a strange grandfatherly appearance, or flying 

 slowly with stift' outstretched neck, Audubon's 

 Caracara strikes the observer with singular gro- 

 tesqueness. An odd performance in which it in- 

 dulges is to throw the head so far backward as 

 to touch the shoulder feathers, emitting while in 

 this position, its hoarse raucous call. Among 

 themselves they are quarrelsome, stronger indi- 

 viduals attacking and sometimes severely injur- 

 ing weaker ones. These fracases, though 

 apparently starting in a spirit of play, often end 

 in a general fight. 



Though usually carrion feeders, in some mari- 

 time locations the Caracaras lay tribute on Peli- 

 cans as they come ashore, compelling them by 

 attacks from above to disgorge the fish with 

 which their pouches are filled. 



