The Story
This Yellow-headed Caracara (Daptrius chimachima) perched on a dead branch near Puerto Nariño, in Amazonas, Colombia, its pale buff head and underparts bright against dark brown wings. It is omnivorous and relies heavily on scavenging, eating carrion, insects, crabs, fish, reptiles, eggs and nestlings, as well as fruits like oil palm and coconut. It also picks ticks off cattle and other large mammals such as capybaras and tapirs. It usually builds a stick nest up to 15 meters high in a tree or palm, but it has also nested on the ground and even in buckets and cans on the wall of a house. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/350 sec, f/16, ISO 3200. Puerto Nariño has no cars, and in 2012 it became the first town in Colombia certified for sustainable tourism.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Yellow-headed Caracara (Daptrius chimachima) belongs to the family Falconidae (Falcons and Caracaras) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List
