Chilean name: Carancho cordillerano

The Mountain Caracara is distributed in the Andes from the north of Peru through Bolivia to north-west Argentina and northern and central Chile. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found in puna grassland at between 2,000 and 5,000 metres.

It nests on cliffs using anything to hand as nesting material including animal dung. It feeds on insects birds and rodents as well as on carrion.