Caracara plancus
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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.
The word "caracara" ultimately traces its origins to Old Tupi karakará. Further etymology is uncertain, but it is assumed to be onomatopoeic, imitating the bird's call. The crested caracara is also... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Salvador | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Natal | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Caracara sighting in Manuel Antonio National Park on a given day, based on 465 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 39th most-seen of the 325 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and September–November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Caracara in Manuel Antonio National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June and August, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crested 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.
24th of 78
Of the 78 parks where we can rate Crested Caracara sightings, Manuel Antonio National Park ranks 24th at about 20%. The best odds are in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 80%), Emas National Park (Brazil, about 70%) and Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Falconidae
The closest relatives of the Crested Caracara that you can see in Manuel Antonio National Park (family Falconidae, Falcons and Caracaras) are 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 Crested Caracara is recorded against all the birds logged in Manuel Antonio National Park (465 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.
