EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Chimango Dinner

Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango temucoensis), Family Falconidae
Puerto Varas, Chile

Explanation:  Dinnertime for a falcon!  This is a Chimango Caracara, a member of the falcon family and a common resident of open country in the "southern cone" of southern South America.  

Here, this petite predator is enjoying a meal of a songbird that had rammed into a large plate glass window in the lodge we were visiting.  The songbird was likely stunned, but the caracara, ever opportunistic, dashed in and grabbed it.

The following video first shows a caracara in a nearby wetland preserve in Chile, attempting to land on, and unsuccessfully feed on, what appears to be a floating dead fish ... and then our friend here plucking the feathers from his songbird prey in preparation for dinner.  Notice how the caracara seems quite wary of his surroundings, constantly looking around for competitors that could swoop in and steal his prize.  Many species of birds attempt kleptoparasitism to steal others' foods, nesting materials, or other resources.  Our friend here eventually successfully enjoyed his meal, however, without being pirated.