Ibycter americanus
Silhouette: Sean McCann · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The red-throated caracara (Ibycter americanus) is a social species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is placed in the monotypic genus Ibycter, or sometimes united in Daptrius with the black caracara. Unique among caracaras, it mainly feeds on the larvae of bees and wasps, but also takes the adult insects and fruits and berries.
It is found from far southern Mexico through parts of Central and South America south to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The red-throated caracara was described by French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1770 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name, but in 1783, Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Falco americanus in his catalogue... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Brownsberg Nature Park | 🇸🇷 Suriname | |
| 3 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 8 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-throated Caracara sighting in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, based on 48 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 127th most-seen of the 328 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Red-throated Caracara in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January, March, August and October, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-throated Caracara sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Red-throated Caracara sightings, Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Darién National Park (Panama, about 30%), Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname, about 20%) and Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 20%).
Same family: Falconidae
The closest relatives of the Red-throated Caracara that you can see in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (family Falconidae, Falcons and Caracaras) are Black Caracara (about 40%), Laughing Falcon (about 10%) and Bat Falcon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-throated Caracara is recorded against all the birds logged in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (48 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
