Taxonomic note
Caracara plancus was previously split as C. plancus and C. cheriway (del Hoyo and Collar 2014), following Dove and Banks (1999), who noted that cheriway has breast with “dark spots or wedge-shaped bars, heavier posteriorly” vs “dark and light bars over entire breast area” (2); pale wedge-shaped patch with broad black bars on upper back, scapulars always black vs upper back and scapulars finely barred with no wedge-shaped patch (2); barred upper back, black lower back, white uppertail-coverts and barred tail vs upper back to tail barred (2); vent area pale vs dark (ns1); narrow hybrid zone (2). However, both AOS-SACC and AOS-NACC have re-evaluated the case made by Dove and Banks (1999) for splitting the two taxa and considered that the two forms ‘share a broad number of indiscriminately mixed plumage characters in their area of overlap, a large and broad swathe of Amazonia. Furthermore, their mitochondrial DNA hardly differs despite a distance of 4300 km between the nearest samples.’ The taxon cheriway is therefore returned to a subspecies of plancus. Has often been treated as conspecific with †C. lutosa. Northern birds have sometimes been separated as subspecies audubonii (described from Florida), those of Sonora (NW Mexico) as ammophilus, and those of Tres Marías Is (off W Mexico) as pallida, but claimed differences in plumage tone appear to be due to wear and those of size to clinal variation (Dove and Banks 1999). Two subspecies recognised.
Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2023. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v8_Dec23.zip.
Critically Endangered | Endangered | Vulnerable |
---|---|---|
- | - | - |
Year | Category | Criteria |
---|---|---|
2023 | Least Concern | |
2016 | Not Recognised | |
2012 | Not Recognised | |
2008 | Not Recognised | |
2004 | Not Recognised | |
2000 | Not Recognised | |
1994 | Lower Risk/Least Concern | |
1988 | Lower Risk/Least Concern |
Migratory status | not a migrant | Forest dependency | does not normally occur in forest |
Land-mass type | Average mass | - |
Estimate | Data quality | |
---|---|---|
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) | 40,700,000 km2 | |
Severely fragmented? | no | - |
Estimate | Data quality | Derivation | Year of estimate | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Population size | 2500000-4999999 mature individuals | poor | inferred | 2023 |
Population trend | stable | - | suspected | - |
Generation length | 10.41 years | - | - | - |
Number of subpopulations | 2 | - | - | - |
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation | 1-89% | - | - | - |
Population justification: The species is common and widespread (Stotz et al. 1996, eBird 2023). Subspecies cheriway is estimated at 2,200,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2022); the total population is consequently extremely large. It is here tentatively placed in the band 2,500,000-4,999,999 mature individuals.
Trend justification: Despite local variations in the population trend, the species is overall suspected to be stable or increasing due to its preference for open areas and tolerance of converted and disturbed habitats.
Country/Territory | Presence | Origin | Resident | Breeding visitor | Non-breeding visitor | Passage migrant |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | extant | native | yes | |||
Aruba (to Netherlands) | extant | native | yes | |||
Belize | extant | native | yes | |||
Bolivia | extant | native | yes | |||
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) | extant | native | yes | |||
Brazil | extant | native | yes | |||
Chile | extant | native | yes | |||
Colombia | extant | native | yes | |||
Costa Rica | extant | native | yes | |||
Cuba | extant | native | yes | |||
Curaçao (to Netherlands) | extant | native | yes | |||
Ecuador | extant | native | yes | |||
El Salvador | extant | native | yes | |||
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | extant | native | yes | |||
French Guiana | extant | native | yes | |||
Guatemala | extant | native | yes | |||
Guyana | extant | native | yes | |||
Honduras | extant | native | yes | |||
Mexico | extant | native | yes | |||
Nicaragua | extant | native | yes | |||
Panama | extant | native | yes | |||
Paraguay | extant | native | yes | |||
Peru | extant | native | yes | |||
Suriname | extant | native | yes | |||
Trinidad and Tobago | extant | native | yes | |||
Uruguay | extant | native | yes | |||
USA | extant | native | yes | |||
Venezuela | extant | native | yes |
Country/Territory | IBA Name |
---|
Habitat (level 1) | Habitat (level 2) | Importance | Occurrence |
---|---|---|---|
Artificial/Terrestrial | Arable Land | suitable | resident |
Artificial/Terrestrial | Pastureland | suitable | resident |
Artificial/Terrestrial | Plantations | suitable | resident |
Artificial/Terrestrial | Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest | suitable | resident |
Grassland | Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded | suitable | resident |
Grassland | Temperate | suitable | resident |
Shrubland | Subtropical/Tropical Dry | suitable | resident |
Shrubland | Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude | suitable | resident |
Wetlands (inland) | Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands | suitable | resident |
Altitude | 0 - 2600 m | Occasional altitudinal limits | (max) 3800 m |
Threat (level 1) | Threat (level 2) | Impact and Stresses | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Biological resource use | Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target) | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
|||||||||
Pollution | Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
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Transportation & service corridors | Roads & railroads | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
Purpose | Scale |
---|---|
Pets/display animals, horticulture | subsistence, national |
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Crested Caracara Caracara plancus. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/crested-caracara-caracara-plancus on 24/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/11/2024.