caracara

[kahr-uh-kahr-uh, kar-uh-kar-uh]

noun

1. any of certain long-legged birds of prey of the falcon family, of the southern U.S. and Central and South America that feed on carrion.

caracara

/ ˌkɑːrəˈkɑːrə /

noun

1. any of various large carrion-eating diurnal birds of prey of the genera Caracara, Polyborus, etc, of S North, Central, and South America, having long legs and naked faces: family Falconidae (falcons)

Word History and Origins

Origin of caracara¹

1830–40; < Spanish or Portuguese < Tupi; imitative of its cry

Word History and Origins

Origin of caracara¹

C19: from Spanish or Portuguese, from Tupi; of imitative origin

Example Sentences

Dr. Walschburger stepped right through them as savanna hawks and caracaras, two common birds of prey on the llanos, swooped excitedly over the smoldering pasture, hunting escaping rodents and reptiles.

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But travel to the Falkland Islands near the Argentine coast, and you’ll find not parrots or crows but freakishly smart falcons called striated caracaras.

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The image shows two crested caracara birds, on a tree branch in southern Texas, USA.

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For two decades, he has recorded as Shearwater; last year, he released his first book, a kind of personal history of the “world’s smartest bird of prey,” the caracara.

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He pointed out wild llama-like guanacos grazing on the steppe, a gray fox running across the road, and caracara falcons perched on the fence posts.

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