It may have
been over a month since my last Feathered Friday entry but this one is a beauty
which should make up for the absence. It is the Striated Caracara, otherwise
known as the ‘Johnny Rook’ or the Falkland Island Caracara. Not a native UK
bird by any stretch – they can only be seen in captivity in local wildlife
parks across the country – their natural home is on the extreme southern tip of
Latin America, specifically south Chile, Tierra del Fuego, and the remote
islands in this area including the Falklands (where they are most common). They
typically frequent rocky coastal habitats and open grasslands, particularly
farmland where they have been persecuted for predation of young lambs and their
numbers subsequently threatened. On the coast, however, they appear to be doing
better, their diet consisting of seabirds and young penguins which they mostly scavenge
rather than kill (however they have been observed taking eggs and chicks and will
even predate smaller seabirds at night). They can also subsist on tidal
invertebrates and will move stones to search for food (they aren’t considered one
of the smartest birds of prey for nothing).
Phalcoboenus australis
These birds
are striking in their appearance – and I should know; I was privileged to see one
up close at a wildlife park in Devon (that's where I took the above picture) – their plumage is composed of black to
brownish-black feathers with a mantle of silvery/buff-brown streaks or
striations around the upper part of their bodies. There is a broad white stripe
across the tip of their tails and white panels on the underwings, visible in
flight, and their faces and legs are strikingly yellow with a classic grey hooked
bill. The juveniles can be distinguished by their lack of distinct striations,
a darker bill, and pinkish legs. Unique among caracaras, they also have ‘rufous’
or red-brown feathering on their thighs and, measuring on average nearly
60cm/2ft long with a 1.2m/4ft wingspan, they are the largest of their genus Phalcoboenus.
When it
comes to the breeding season (late Autumn to early Winter), the striations
which give them their name are put on show, couples throwing their heads back
and baring their patterned chests to each other, uttering loud and raucous squawking
calls. With their chosen partner, a female will lay 1-4 eggs in a nest of grass
and twigs, high on a rocky ledge (if coastal) or hidden in deep grass cover (if
rural), within the loose bounds of a colonial nest-site. The eggs’ hatching is
timed to coincide with that of the nesting seabirds (in the same way blue tits’
hatching coincides with that of local caterpillars) meaning the young have plenty
to eat. As such, over the course of 2-3 months, the young – initially small
brown balls of fluff – will grow rapidly and be ready to fledge by the end of
February. And, by ‘be ready’ I mean, they are unceremoniously evicted by their
parents, often flocking and learning to survive together.
This
majestic bird is, sadly, one of the rarest raptors in the world, currently
considered to be Near Threatened with roughly between 1.5 and 4 thousand
individuals within their restricted habitat. However, conservation efforts and
legal protection is helping to increase the breeding population – which is a
real relief because, having come face-to-beak with one of these birds, it would
be a real shame to see them go.
Facts taken
from: Falklands Conservation, Lake District Wildlife Park, ebird.org, Oiseaux-Birds
https://falklandsconservation.com/caracara/
https://www.lakedistrictwildlifepark.co.uk/animals/striated-caracara/
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