Return of Bird of the Week: Chimango Caracara

There are about ten species of Caracara, spread across five genera. Here’s another.

The Chimango Caracara is found in the southern half of South America, from southern Brazil to the tip of Argentina.

Chimango Caracara, Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina

It’s a smaller, somewhat drabber member of the subfamily, and, at least in Tierra del Fuego, fills the ecological niche of ravens and vultures: it’s mostly a scavenger and opportunistic predator, and a generalist, eating everything from bugs to dead cattle. The apparent apron in this photo is a consequence of the strong wind blowing from behind the bird. The wind is usually blowing strongly in Tierra del Fuego.

It’s also polytypic, with significantly different color phases across its range. The far southern populations, like this bird, tend to be much darker.

Chimango Caracara, Ushuaia Harbor, Argentina

This particular bird was eating shrimp pieces from the effluent at a shrimp processing plant with a flock of Kelp Gulls and a couple of Southern Giant Petrels.

Like Common Ravens, it forages in small groups, and like Ravens, cooperates in opening carrion, but nests apart. These populations are migratory, moving north in the austral winter to southern Brazil. As is the case with too many neotropical species, very little is known about Chimango Caracaras. Ornithologists argue about subspecies or mere color variations, and which genus it’s in.

The species seems to do very well in disturbed habitat, has a wide range, an eclectic appetite and adapts to humans well; it is not believed to be in danger.

For more bird photographs, please visit Frozen Feather Images.

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