Cara What?

I promised more pictures from The Audubon Center For Birds Of Prey this past weekend, and this is probably my favorite bird from that trip. This is the Crested Cara Cara, a species of hawk that has a very limited range here in Florida. Experts estimate there are only about 300 nesting pairs in the entire state, most of them on private property around Lake Okeechobee. They are more prevelant in Texas, then south through Mexico and into South America. This species used to be thought related to vultures and buzzards, but recent research has shown these birds to be more closely related to hawks. They do tend to eat plenty of carrion, but they can hunt prey in the event there is nothing dead to plunder. The bird above was actually trained to sit on his handler's glove and was said to have much more personality than the other eagles, owls and hawks at the center. The bird below was in his cage and was very vocal whenever I approached, as if he were guarding his territory.