The crested caracara (Caracara cheriway) is a large raptor found in North, Central, and South America. This bird of prey is known for its distinctive crown of feathers on its head and its habit of scavenging carrion. Crested caracaras occupy a variety of habitats across their extensive range, including grasslands, scrublands, open woodlands, and forest edges. Their distribution extends from the southern United States down through Mexico and Central America and across much of South America. In this article, we will examine the geographic range of the crested caracara in more detail and discuss the habitats where this adaptable bird of prey makes its home.
Range in North America
The crested caracara has an expansive range across much of Mexico, Central America, and the southern United States. In the U.S., it is found primarily in Florida, southern Texas, and southern Arizona.
Florida
Florida represents the stronghold for crested caracaras in the United States. Caracaras occur statewide but are most abundant in the central and southern regions of the Florida peninsula. They frequent open marshes, pastures, and prairies and can often be seen perched on fence posts or utility poles scanning for food. The extensive wetlands and grasslands of central Florida provide excellent habitat. The Kissimmee Prairie region harbors particularly high densities of these raptors.
Texas and Arizona
In Texas, crested caracaras occupy the southernmost parts of the state, with scattered populations extending north along the coast to around Corpus Christi. They frequent brushy areas and open grasslands. In Arizona, their range is restricted to grasslands and desert scrub habitats in the southern part of the state, mostly south of Phoenix and Tucson. Their range extends into California in very small numbers along the Colorado River.
Range in Mexico and Central America
Crested caracaras have an extensive distribution in Mexico and are found in nearly all of the country’s ecological regions. They occur along both the Pacific and Gulf Coasts, as well as the interior through the central Mexican Plateau. Caracaras range south throughout Central America, occupying suitable habitat through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Coastal regions
Along the coasts of Mexico and Central America, crested caracaras inhabit open habitats near wetlands, estuaries, and beaches. They utilize mangrove forests, savannas, and thorn scrub along coastal areas.
Interior regions
In interior areas, they occupy desert scrub, grasslands, agricultural areas, and open woodlands from lowland tropical regions up through montane valleys and plateaus. Crested caracara populations tend to be lower in dense, wet forest areas of Central America.
Range in South America
The crested caracara has an expansive distribution across much of South America. It is found through most of the continent except for the dense Amazon rainforest basin.
Andes Mountains
In the Andes Mountains, crested caracaras inhabit valleys and plateaus up to elevations of 4,500 meters. They are found along the Andes from Colombia and Venezuela south through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. In this region, they frequent open grasslands, scrublands, and agricultural areas.
Southern Cone region
Caracaras occupy varied habitats in the Southern Cone region of South America. This includes central Chile and adjacent areas of Argentina. In Chile, they occur in the Norte Chico semi-arid region in the north-central part of the country. In Argentina, their range covers most of the country from the Andean foothills east across the pampas grasslands. They are also found in Paraguay and southwestern Brazil in adjacent regions of open habitat.
Coastal regions
Along the Atlantic coast, crested caracaras occur in coastal savannas and grasslands from northeast Brazil south to Uruguay. Their range continues along the coast of Argentina. On the Pacific coast, they inhabit valleys and coastal plains from Colombia and Ecuador south to central Chile.
Habitats
The crested caracara utilizes a diversity of open and semi-open habitats across its broad geographic range. As a highly adaptable species, it occupies both natural and human-altered environments.
Grasslands
Crested caracaras frequently inhabit open grasslands and plains throughout their range. This includes tropical savannas, pampas grasslands of South America, desert grasslands in the southwestern U.S., and coastal prairies. Grasslands provide suitable hunting terrain and convenient perches for spotting prey.
Scrublands
In drier regions, crested caracaras utilize various types of scrub habitat. This includes desert scrub in the southwestern U.S. and thorn scrub in coastal Mexico and Central America. Scrublands offer scattered trees and shrubs for perching and cover.
Open woodlands
The crested caracara occupies open woodland habitats including tropical dry forests and temperate oak savannas. Sparse trees provide perches above the open understory. Edges of denser forests are also used.
Agricultural areas
These resourceful raptors readily utilize human-altered environments, including cattle pastures, agricultural fields, and roadsides. The combination of open hunting terrain and carrion from livestock provides excellent habitat.
Wetlands
Coastal wetlands, including mangrove swamps and marshes, offer habitat for crested caracaras near sea level. Inland wetlands are occupied where open water and grassy areas provide food sources.
Arid environments
Crested caracaras tolerate highly arid conditions and occupy deserts and semi-desert areas. Vegetation may be sparse in these environments.
Elevation
Crested caracaras inhabit a broad range of elevations across their extensive distribution in the Americas.
Sea level to 1,000 meters
From sea level up to elevations of around 1,000 meters, crested caracaras occupy coastal regions, lowland tropical forests, savannas, and desert scrub habitats. This includes extensive areas at lower elevations.
1,000 to 3,000 meters
In foothill areas at intermediate elevations from 1,000 to 3,000 meters, crested caracaras utilize valleys, plateaus, open woodlands, and grasslands. This includes much of their range in Mexico’s central plateau.
Above 3,000 meters
Crested caracaras occur at higher elevations in the Andes Mountains, where they inhabit plateaus and valleys up to 4,500 meters in some areas. The highest breeding populations are found at elevations around 3,000 meters.
Geographic Variation
Some subtle geographic variations occur across the crested caracara’s range, but most authorities currently recognize this as a single widespread species without dividing it into subspecies.
Size
Overall size is slightly larger in populations at the northern end of their range in the U.S. and Mexico. Birds in Central and northern South America average somewhat smaller.
Plumage
Plumage variations between populations are minor. The lightest coloration tends to occur in arid southwestern desert regions. In Central and South America, caracaras exhibit generally darker plumage.
Ecological adaptations
Some ecological adaptations to local habitat conditions occur across their range. Desert populations in the U.S. southwest utilize cacti for nesting due to lack of trees. Crested caracaras in the South American pampas region often nest on the ground.
Conservation Status
The crested caracara has an extensive range estimated at over 5 million square kilometers. Given its large range and population, estimated globally at around 1 million mature individuals, the crested caracara is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Numbers appear generally stable, though some local declines have occurred, especially in Central America. Crested caracaras adapt readily to human-altered habitats in many regions as long as sufficient prey is available. They remain a relatively common sight across much of their extensive range in the Americas.
Conclusion
The crested caracara inhabits a great diversity of open and semi-open habitats across an expansive range extending from the southern U.S. to Chile and Argentina in South America. They occupy grasslands, scrublands, agricultural areas, open woodlands, wetlands, and even arid desert environments from sea level up to 4,500 meters elevation in the Andes. This remarkable adaptability allows crested caracaras to thrive across such a vast geographic area encompassing an incredible variety of climates and habitat types. The crested caracara’s future seems secure due to its tolerance of human activities in many regions as long as suitable habitat remains. The maintenance of healthy populations of this unique raptor continues to provide an important element of biodiversity across the Americas.