Crested Caracara

     We traveled over to the east coast this week on a three-day birding trip.  We visited many spots on the Great Florida Birding Trail as well as other parks and wildlife areas.  While driving through Okeechobee County we spotted a Crested Caracara sitting on a fence post along the roadside.  We pulled over to get some great photos and discovered a juvenile Caracara just a few feet away.  The Crested Caracara is a life list bird for us.

     Males and females are similar in appearance.  They have long necks, tails and long yellow legs.  They have a shallow flat crown with a black cap and nape.  The cheeks, neck and breast are whitish.  The lower neck, breast and back is finely barred.  They have a massive orange bill with a bluish tip.  The body is black, and their long narrow wings are black with white patches near the tips.  The tail is white with a broad black band at the tip.  Juvenile Caracaras are like adults, but brown in dark areas (not black), neck and face buffy with grayish legs.  Their bill is pinkish with a bluish tip.  

     Caracaras found in Florida are a threatened sub-species known as "Audubon's Crested Caracaras".  They are very rare, usually found in a five-county area of interior south Florida, north and west of Lake Okeechobee.  We were hoping to see one on this trip.  We saw a total of seven , what a blessing.  Enjoy these photos of the Crested Caracara.....tweet.....tweet!!

Crested Caracara (Adult)
(Taken 11/6/12, Okeechobee Co. FL)

    Note:  According to several sources, this bird has a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) band on it's left leg.  It's also banded with a GPS tracker on it's right leg.  If you'll look closely you can see the antenna (it's not a twig) along side the talons on it's right leg.  In addition, the yellow spot on the breast is it's skin.  This bird has just finished eating, it's crop has become engorged, protruding through it's feathers.  



Crested Caracara (Juvenile)
(Taken 11/6/12, Okeechobee Co. FL)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Crested_Caracara/id

http://floridabirdingtrail.com/index.php/conservation/bird/crested_caracara/