Mountain caracara

Appearance

A medium-sized caracara with a faintly blue beak tip turning to bright orange, strongly contrasted by the jet-black feathers of its head, back and chest. Its rump, belly and uppertail and undertail coverts are pure white, changing sharply from black to white between the belly and chest. Its black wings have small white shoulder patches and it has white spots on some of its outer primairies.

Distribution

Mountain Caracaras are endemic to South America and are found throughout several countries, including Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

Habitat

They prefer unforested regions where they can perch on power poles or fence posts to overlook a large area. They are usually grouped near cities and along highways.

Reproduction

The Caracara species are unique among the Falconidae family in that they build their own nests of sticks, though these can range from a bare minimum of materials to quite a substantial amount; some nests consist merely of an empty cliff ledge while others are massive weaves of branches. Breeding season is from October to December and the nest will usually contain two eggs, and very rarely three, that hatch in December. The chicks have fledged and are independent by March, though they may stay with their parents for months afterward.

Food

A highly opportunistic bird commonly seen walking on the ground, it feeds on both carrion and virtually any small animal it can catch. Those living in the high plains of northwestern Argentina seem to rely more heavily on animal carcasses as a food source, while some studied in the Andes of South Central Chile left pellets that were composed mostly of insect remains . These birds scratch and stamp at the dirt to scare up bugs from the ground and flip over rocks to find more arthropods and even rodents. Group foraging behaviour has been observed and several birds are able to overturn rocks that would be impossible for a single bird to move on its own. These groups are most often formed by a couple of adults and a juvenile that combine their efforts in search of food. Small birds, such as the Plain-mantled Tit-spinetail also fall prey to them. Lone Caracaras were also recorded to follow human vehicles that would periodically throw out scraps of food. Being opportunistic feeders, they have adapted well to living near humans and are more concentrated near cities where they are more likely to be able to feast on carrion and refuse.