LC
Crested Caracara Caracara plancus



Taxonomy

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.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
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
Species attributes

Migratory status not a migrant Forest dependency does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 40,700,000 km2
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
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 distribution
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

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
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

Threats & impact
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
Stresses
Species mortality
Pollution Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides Timing Scope Severity Impact
Ongoing Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Low Impact: 4
Stresses
Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors Roads & railroads Timing Scope Severity Impact
Ongoing Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Low Impact: 4
Stresses
Species mortality

Utilisation
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.