Yellow-headed Caracara: how to recognise it
A bird of Europe, North America and South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Manuel Raab · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Daptrius chimachima
- Family
- Falcons and Caracaras
- Size
- About 43 cm
- Habitat
- Open country, pastures and forest edges
- Found in
- Europe, North America and South America
The key marks
Pale buff-yellow head and body, brown wings and tail, a dark line behind the eye; buff patches show on the wings in flight. Crested Caracara has a black cap, white neck, barred chest and an orange-red face.
Voice
A long, harsh, rasping scream.
Good to know
It often perches on cattle and fence posts, picks ticks off livestock and feeds on roadkill.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Crested Caracara. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in open country, pastures and forest edges. It is especially common in Colombia and Panama. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.