Size: Length; 60cm. Weight; 1.8-3kg.

Habitat and distribution: Cliff ledges in the Falklands and the island of Tierra del Fuego off the tip of South America.

Groups and breeding:  Four eggs are laid in nests build of twigs on cliff ledges.

Diet: Carrion and sea birds mostly although they may also take lambs and dead penguins.

• Young caracara start their life coloured orange, it is only as they get older that their plumage darkens.
• It is thought that the caracara can see in colour as it has been reported stealing red objects such as clothing and handkerchiefs but not other non-red objects.
• These birds are also known locally as ‘Johnny Rooks’.
• Charles Darwin reported these birds to be “extraordinarily tame and fearless” and “very mischievous and inquisitive, quarrelsome and passionate”
• Caracara time their breeding so that young hatch at the same time as local seabirds, providing them with a constant supply of food.