---
title: "Carcará"
description: "Caracara plancus — Aves. The crested caracara (Caracara plancus) is a bird of prey (raptor) in the falcon family, Falconidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/crested-caracara
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Carcará

> Caracara plancus — Aves. The crested caracara (Caracara plancus) is a bird of prey (raptor) in the falcon family, Falconidae.

- Scientific name: *Caracara plancus*
- Category: `birds` (Aves)
- Habitats: `savanna` (Savana), `desert` (Deserto)
- iNaturalist observations: 67524
- Wikidata: [Q755119](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q755119)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4715](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4715)

## Names

- en: Crested Caracara
- de: Schopfkarakara
- es: Carancho
- fr: Caracara huppé
- it: Caracara meridionale
- nl: Kuifcaracara
- pt: Carcará
- pl: Karakara czubata

## Countries with the most observations

US (16558), AR (13841), MX (12474), BR (10629), CR (2606), CO (1843), CL (1730), BO (892), PA (619), UY (508), HN (494), CW (318)

## Summary

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…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_caracara

## Photo

![Carcará](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/crested-caracara/medium.jpg)

Photo: karuquebec · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/198824947

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/crested-caracara?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).