Spotted this last weekend. On our way north out of Fredericksburg, TX we interrupted a roadkill brunch around 9:30am. We did a u-turn, snuck back over the hill and got this shot from the car window before he flew further away.
Nice observation Glen. I thought that this species was a Florida special, and then only to be seen in a few areas. Do they also regularly occur in Tx? Caracaras are super birds are we should consider ourselves lucky that we have one in North America as most of them occur in the South American continent.
Mike, the map that I linked to plots the results of the annual Breeding Bird Survey which is run each year in June. It is based upon 24.5 miles long transects that are driven and birds are recorded at 0.5-mile intervals...not necessarily the most complete way to collect population data, but it usually helps define a species core range and its general abundance in that area. Just last week a Crested Caracara was down in southern Miami-Dade, which was fun to see!
Judd, thanks for explaining how they go about assembling the map.
Glad to see one so far south. It wasn't that many years ago it was rare to observe them in central Fl.. It seems through my personal time in the field over the past several years they are actually increasing in population even though threatened with loss of habitat.
My theory about which I perceive as a increase in population is actually do to the increase of vehicles on rural roads. They are opportunistic feeders as are eagles and vultures. With more cars comes more road kill. That in turn provides a more easily accessible food supply which helps the adults in their quest to feed their young. I could be off base but that's what I have come up with.
Crested Caracara
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