Red-throated Caracara
Ibycter americanus
Large, raucous forest raptor. Unmistakable by virtue of its size, social habits, and loud, incessant calls. At a distance, note slow flight and contrasting white belly. Found in regions of continuous lowland forest; does not occur in extensively disturbed areas. Mostly observed in the canopy and mid-story where it knocks down wasp and bee nests to the ground to feed on the larvae; also consumes fruit. Groups will approach and mob humans passing through their territory.
Identification
Males average 20.1 in (51 cm) long, while females average 22.1 in (56 cm); they are distinguished from the black caracara by larger size and plumage that is mainly black, with the belly, tail feathers, and undertail feathers being white. Both their faces and throats are bare with a few black feathers scattered on the throat; the exposed skin is red. Both male and female red-throated caracaras are similar in appearance. Males have a wing length of 35.55 cm, a tail length of 24.96 cm, a bill length of 2.5 cm, and a tarsus length of 5.41 cm. Females have a wing length of 35.93 cm, a tail length of 25.31 cm, a bill length of 2.58 cm, and a tarsus length of 5.62 cm.
Taxonomy
The red-throated caracara was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1770 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Falco americanus in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.<p>The red-throated caracara was for many years placed with the black caracara in the genus Daptrius but based on a molecular genetic study published in 1999 it was moved to be the only species in the resurrected genus Ibycter that had been introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816. The species is monotypic. The genus name Ibycter is from the Ancient Greek ibuktēr meaning "singer of war-songs".
- Scientific name
- Ibycter americanus
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
- Genus
- Ibycter
Range and habitat
This species inhabits the humid lowland forests of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. The slow flight of the red-throated caracara makes it suited it to fly in the understory of the forest where the vegetation is thin. The sparse vegetation gives the red-throated caracara greater visibility to spot food and predators. The ornate hawk-eagle and the black-and-white hawk-eagle are predators of the red-throated caracara.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Chinese Egret
Egretta eulophotes
Medium-sized white egret. Breeding adult has bright blue loral skin, a pinkish-orange bill, and long frilly plumes on the head, neck, and back. Nonbreeding adult lack plumes and has dull greenish legs and bill. Nonbreeding birds can be confused with Little Egret, but note Chinese Egret's thicker bill, proportionally stouter legs, orangish base to the bill, and dark lores with a shallow crook between eyes and bill. Light morph of Pacific Reef-Heron may also be similar, but average much thicker-billed and thicker-legged than Chinese. Moves between craggy islands and coastlines when breeding; winters in mangroves, estuaries, and mudflats.
Crimson-winged Finch
Rhodopechys sanguineus
A striking, large finch of high altitude rocky slopes. Note the dark crown, brown back and breast, and pink tones in wings and tail, which are easier to see in flight. Bill is heavy and yellowish. Flight call is a nasal "Chip-chip."
Laggar Falcon
Falco jugger
A large, slender falcon with long wings that nearly reach its tail tip when perched. It has a rusty crown above a thin white brow that can connect to its pale forecrown, above a bold dark eye-stripe that extends to the nape. The moustachial stripe sometimes seems to have a break at the gape line. Upperparts mostly brown; white underparts can be streaked at the breast and solid brown at the thighs. A species of open, arid country that preys mainly on birds.
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