On the Falkland Islands in the Antarctic mild zone there lives a rare form of raptor. A raptor is a bird of prey and the Striated Caracara is the southernmost raptor in the world.
These Eagle-like birds only live on islands where there are populations of seals or seabirds. They eat small seabirds, the eggs and chicks of larger seabirds such as penguins and albatrosses, and on the carcasses of fur seals and penguins, as well as any offal and will also forage among human food scraps. They can be seen sometimes hunting in large flocks.
Caracara’s have a distinctive yellow colouring around the back of their beak and eyes and they are very curious, showing little fear of humans. They can be easily caught with a hand net especially the juveniles. Something Charles Darwin discovered when he visited the Falklands in 1833.
They tend to steal red objects possibly mistaking them for meat and although they have little to fear from natural predators their biggest danger used to come from sheep farmers on the Falklands. But a law was passed to protect them and they are now recovering though still considered ‘near threatened’.