Mountain Caracara Phalcoboenus megalopterus

Chilean name: Carancho cordillerano
Mountain Caracara, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
January 2007

The Mountain Caracara is distributed in the Andes from the north of Peru through Bolivia to north-west Argentina and northern and central Chile. It is found in puna grassland at between 2,000 and 5,000 metres.
Mountain Caracara, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image It is black with a white belly and vent, a black tail with white tip and a white rump. The bill is greyish-blue with a reddish base and the legs are yellow.

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.
Mountain Caracara, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image There are recordings on xeno-canto.
Previous Page Back to Index Next Page
If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page.