Two adult Audubon's Crested Caracara (left) with a Black Vulture (right)
Panther Island, photo Allyson Webb
On an early morning in late March, the resource management
team was together on Panther Island Mitigation Bank assessing areas we treated
for two invasive grasses, Torpedo grass (Panicum
repens), and Sporobolis spp.
As we drove by an open pine flatwood, our supervisor,
Allyson Webb, slowed the truck and passed back some binoculars. Up in one of
the taller pines was a large, apparently flat-topped Falconiforme known as an
Audubon’s Crested Caracara (Polyborus
plancus audubonii). This federally listed threatened subspecies can be
found only in Southern and Central Florida.
As we watched, another adult flew to join the first, and we
witnessed some very unique bird ‘body-language.’ Crested Caracaras at rest have
a flat-topped head and orange-red exposed skin on the face. When alert,
threatened, or alarmed, the crest will rise up. The same states of agitation
will cause blood to bypass the subepidermal blood vessels and the facial skin
will change color from the deep orange-red to a lighter orange or yellow.
Juvenile Audubon's Crested Caracara
Panther Island, photo Allyson Webb
We soon saw the reason for the adults’ irritation - two fledglings
were in the cabbage palm below. Audubon’s Crested Caracara fledge at about 8
weeks and will have pinkish facial skin and grey legs. Caracaras prefer dry and
wet prairie with scattered cabbage palm and lightly wooded areas, but much of
this habitat type has been lost to development and has forced caracaras
to use improved pastureland instead. The success of nesting caracaras is likely
correlated with low ground cover and high distance from human activity, so the
restored flatwood on Panther Island is one of the ideal habitats for successful
breeding pairs such as the one we saw. With luck, we can host this threatened and
expressive bird year after year.
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-Kristina
