You don’t often see the Crested Caracara in Grand Harbor, but one was spotted by a resident recently.  Their normal habitat is Mexico, South Texas, and inland Florida.  You can hear their high harsh cackle.  The name comes from a South American Indian name, based on the bird call.  This bird looks like a hawk with its sharp beak and talons, behaves like a vulture and is technically a large tropical black-and-white falcon.  It stands on long yellow-orange legs with a sharp black cap set against a white neck and yellow-orange face.  It routinely walks on the ground.

They usually lay 2-3 eggs that are pale brown, blotched with darker brown.  Incubation is done by both sexes and last about 30 days.  The young are about 6-8 weeks when they start to fly.  They eat carrion (roadkill) along with vultures and feed on a wide variety of smaller creatures including rabbits, squirrels, birds and their eggs, frogs, snakes, lizards, turtles, young alligators, fish, and large insects.   They are aggressive and will push vultures out of their way while eating.

The Crested Caracara is larger than a Peregrine Falcon and smaller than a Turkey Vulture.  It weighs from 2 ½ - 3 pounds with a wingspan of up to 4 feet.  The oldest recorded bird was at least 21 years, 9 months old when identified by its band in Florida.  It was first banded in Florida in 1994.