Crested caracara
Caracara plancus (J. F. Miller, 1777)
The crested caracara (Caracara plancus) is a species in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. Recorded adults weigh 975 g to 1.35 kg and live up to 23.8 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the crested caracara
- Weight
- 975 g – 1.35 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.2 m – 1.33 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 23.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 37.6 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 32 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 2.58src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the crested caracara?
Where does the crested caracara live?
Not recorded
What is the crested caracara?
The crested caracara (Caracara plancus) is a bird of prey (raptor) in the falcon family, Falconidae. It was formerly placed in the genus Polyborus before being given in its own genus, Caracara. It is native to and found in the southern and southeastern United States, Mexico (where it is present in every state) and the majority of mainland Latin America, as well as some Caribbean islands. The crested caracara is quite adaptable and hardy, for a species found predominantly in the neotropics; it can be found in a range of environments and ecosystems, including semi-arid and desert climates, maritime or coastal areas, subtropical and tropical forests, temperate regions, plains, swamps, and even in urban areas. Documented, albeit rare, sightings have occurred as far north as Minnesota and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. The southern extent of the crested caracara's distribution can reach as far as Tierra del Fuego and Magallanes Region, Chile.
From the Wikipedia article “Crested caracara” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crested_caracara&oldid=1379390434), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the crested caracara endangered?
The crested caracara is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the crested caracara classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderFalconiformes
- familyFalconidae
- genusCaracara
- SpeciesCaracara plancus (J. F. Miller, 1777)
Synonyms Falco brasiliensis, Polyborus planchus, Polyborus plancus, Polyborus plancus plancus
Other names and names in other languages (73)
- Mexican eagleEnglish
- Southern caracaraEnglish
- Southern crested caracaraEnglish
- كاراكارا متوجArabic
- أشبور متوج جنوبيArabic
- أشبور متوج شماليArabic
- كاراكارا متوج جنوبيArabic
- Adi qarqarAzerbaijani
- Karakara-kuch ar c'hreisteizBreton
- Caracarà crestatCatalan
- caracarà crestat meridionalCatalan
- karančo jižníCzech
- karančo chocholatýCzech
- CaracaraDanish
- stor caracaraDanish
- Stribet gribbefalkDanish
- SchopfkarakaraGerman
- Suda karakaroEsperanto
- kresta karakaroEsperanto
- CuijeSpanish
- caracara caranchoSpanish
- Caracara CargahuesosSpanish
- Caracara moñudoSpanish
- Caracara quebrantahuesosSpanish
- CaranchoSpanish
- Carancho meridionalSpanish
- cargahuesosSpanish
- CaricareSpanish
- TraroSpanish
- tuttkarakaaraEstonian
- eteläntöyhtökarakaraFinnish
- pohjantöyhtökarakaraFinnish
- Caracara huppéFrench
- Caracara du NordFrench
- KarakaraGuarani
- krunata karakaraCroatian
- bóbitás karakaraHungarian
- caracara crestatoItalian
- Caracara meridionaleItalian
- ミナミカラカラJapanese
- カンムリカラカラJapanese
- kuoduotoji karakaraLithuanian
- Paprastoji karakaraLithuanian
- dienvidu karakaraLatvian
- cekulainā karakaraLatvian
- KuifcaracaraDutch
- Zuidelijke KuifcaracaraDutch
- gribbkarakaraNorwegian
- WarawaraPapiamento
- karakara czubataPolish
- karakara czarnobrzuchaPolish
- carcaráPortuguese
- CaracaráPortuguese
- caracara-de-cristaPortuguese
- carcará-de-poupaPortuguese
- Carcará-do-nortePortuguese
- QaranchuQuechua
- КаранчоRussian
- Обыкновенная каракараRussian
- Равнинная каракараRussian
- Северная каракараRussian
- Хохлатая каракараRussian
- karakara pásikaváSlovak
- Ćubasta karakaraSerbian
- tofskarakaraSwedish
- nordlig tofskarakaraSwedish
- sydlig tofskarakaraSwedish
- Tepeli KarakaraTurkish
- Звичайна каракараUkrainian
- каракара аргентинськаUkrainian
- 凤头巨隼Chinese
- 南美鳳頭卡拉鷹Chinese
- 鳳頭卡拉鷹Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the crested caracara
Other species in the same genus Caracara.
Guadalupe caracara
Caracara lutosa
Bahama caracara
Caracara creightoni
CompareCrested caracara vs Guadalupe caracaraCrested caracara vs Bahama caracara
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the crested caracara?
An adult crested caracara weighs 975 g – 1.35 kg and has a wingspan of 1.2 m – 1.33 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the crested caracara endangered?
The crested caracara is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the crested caracara live?
The crested caracara has a recorded lifespan of 23.8 years.
What kind of animal is the crested caracara?
The crested caracara (Caracara plancus) belongs to the family Falconidae in the order Falconiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Crested caracara (Caracara plancus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-caracara
“Crested caracara (Caracara plancus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-caracara.
@misc{crested_caracara_2026,
title = {Crested caracara (Caracara plancus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-caracara},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}