Crested Caracaras (Polybus plancus) are members of the falcon family, and can be identified by the white head with a stout black crest, a white and orange bill, barred shoulders, and brown body. They frequent open areas, including pastures and beaches, where they hunt for small animals. This one was photographed from a distance near Carate on the Osa Peninsula.
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Yellow-headed Caracaras (Milvago chimachima) are part of the falcon family, but are not swift hunters like their falcon cousins. They eat mostly carrion, along with some insects and small vertebrates I’m not sure why this one was pecking at the inside of a broken coconut shell. Perhaps there were some delicious bugs in there. The Yellow-headed Caracara is most common in the south Pacific region, where I photographed this one in 2006.
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