Note on the Feeding Habits of the Caracara in South Texas
Note on the Feeding Habits of the Caracara in South Texas.-Various published notes on the feeding of the Caracara (Caracura cheriway) concur on two points in particular. One has to do with the place of carrion in the bird’s diet, and the other relates to its frequent association with vultures. Bent (U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. No. 170, X938:133) referred to a peculiar habit of the Caracara in robbing Brown Pelicans (Pelecaws occidentalis) of fish being carried to their young. On the other hand, Haverschmidt (Condor, 49, 1947:210) reported that in Dutch Guiana, Caracaras fed on the drying meat of cocoanuts.
For years in lower south Texas, Caracaras cruising along over highways just at daybreak have been a common sight. Each morning they find and feed on animals killed by highway traftic in the preceding afternoon and night. Food thus readily available includes rodents, rabbits, armadillos, opossums, skunks, raccoons, an occasional coyote, snakes, and a variety of birds. This was particularly noticeable along U. S. Highway 281, between Falfurrias and Edinburg, through the 1940’s.
Another interesting practice on the part of some Caracaras is to rob vultures of their partly digested food, but I have not found any account of this in the literature. On four occasions I have watched Caracaras swoop down over Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) and drive them up from where they were feeding on carrion. Then, in each instance, the Caracara pursued a vulture until the latter regurgitated. Thereupon, the pursuer flipped over into a dive and snatched one or more pieces of the falling food before it reached the ground. In three of the instances, the Caracaras were observed to land and pick up additional material, presumably some particle missed in the aerial grab. All of the occurrences were out in open pastures where the view was not obstructed by trees or shrubs.
The four observations mentioned above were made at the following times and places: October 20, 1940, on the Stafford Ranch, 11 miles west of Eagle Lake, Colorado County, Texas; September 23, 1942, on the O’Brien Ranch, 15 miles southwest of Goliad, Goliad County, Texas; September 3, 1945, on the Lasater Ranch, 6 miles southeast of Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas; August 18, 1955, on the Welder Refuge, 10 miles northeast of Sinton, San Patricia County, Texas.
On the last occasion, Dr. Clarence Cottam and I were together, driving over the Welder Refuge. I had barely finished telling him of my earlier observations when we saw a lone Caracara swoop down over two feeding Turkey Vultures, drive them into flight and pursue one until it regurgitated. -W. C. GLAZENER, Welder Wildlife Foundation, Sinton, Texas, May 16, 1963.
