Crested Caracara

Proudly perched as regally as possible, this Crested Caracara somehow gives you permission to snicker.

Granted, this may be a first year juvenile that has yet to reach full adult potential... still s/he evokes a comic reaction.

Could it be a toupee of top feathers... no, yes?

An adult keeps an eye on a youngster as they travel throughout Santa Cruz Flats, Arizona, an agricultural area south of Phoenix.

The baking-hot land, only arable by irrigation, produces mainly cotton and alfalfa.

Crops and creatures now share this patchwork of green and dunn. The water attracts insect life all the way up to bird life.

Caracaras eat from eggs to insects, amphibians to mammals, and especially carrion.

Soaring low across the land is the preferred hunting tactic for this sharp eyed raptor of the falcon family.

Together at sunrise the two birds take off in search of sustenance. It may be alive or among the recently departed, but that doesn't matter to the Crested Caracara. It's all food.

In flight, s/he takes on a more splendid appearance. Perhaps that is why the ancient Aztecs revered as sacred the Crested Caracara.

Allan
Credits:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley Guide to Birds