Primer registro de depredación de un nido de Hornero (Furnarius rufus) por un Carancho (Caracara plancus)

Lucio Garreta; Noelle Rivas-Ortiz

doi:10.56178/na.v71i.1186

Novel Records Published 10 June 2026 https://doi.org/10.56178/na.v71i.1186

First record of predation on a Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) nest by a Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus)

diet Falconiformes feeding Passeriformes prey

Lucio Garreta Sección Etología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Uruguay

Noelle Rivas-Ortiz Sección Etología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Uruguay

Abstract

Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) nests are characterized both by its conspicuousness and by the strength of its construction, which presumably serves as a defense against predators. Here we report for the first time the breaking of the nest and predation of a Rufous Hornero chick by a Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus). The predation of the nest occurred after it rained, suggesting that Crested Caracaras may opportunistically prey on Rufous Hornero nests weakened by the rain.

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References

Amorim PS, Diniz P, Rossi MF, Guaraldo AC (2022) Out of sight, out of mind: dear enemy effect in the rufous hornero, Furarius rufus. Animal Behaviour 187: 167–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.03.010
Baladrón AV, Bó MS (2017). Dieta del Lechuzón Orejudo (Asio clamator) en el límite austral de su distribución. Ornitología Neotropical 28: 51-56. https://doi.org/10.58843/ornneo.v28i0.163
Camacho I, Honorato R, Fernandes BC, Boechat RF, Filho C, Ferreiro M (2013) Diurnal raptors foraging tanajuras (Atta sp.) in flight in a fragmented landscape of the Atlantic forest, southeastern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia - Brazilian Journal of Ornithology 20(47): 3
Di Giacomo AG (2005) Aves de la reserva El Bagual. En: Di Giacomo AG y Krapovickas SF (eds) Historia natural y Paisaje de la Reserva El Bagual, Provincia de Formosa, Argentina. Inventario de la fauna de vertebrados y de la flora vascular de un área protegida del Chaco húmedo. Aves Argentinas/Asociación Ornitológica del Plata, Buenos Aires, pp 201-465
Diniz P (2020) Opportunistic Predation Reveals a Hidden Cost of Fighting in Birds. Ornithology Research 28 (3): 178–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-020-00020-3
Diniz P, Júnior EF, Webster MS, Macedo RH (2018) Duetting Behavior in a Neotropical Ovenbird: Sexual and Seasonal Variation and Adaptive Signaling Functions. Journal of Avian Biology 49(4): jav-01637. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01637
Formoso AE, D’Agostino RL, Agüero ML, Agu EA (2024) Predation by Crested Caracaras (Caracara plancus) on Nests of the Endemic White-headed Steamer-Ducks (Tachyeres leucocephalus). Journal of Raptor Research 58(2): 235–240. https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-23-28
Fraga RM (1980) The Breeding of Rufous Horneros (Furnarius rufus). The Condor 82(1): 58–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/1366785
Galetti M, Guimarães PR Jr (2004) Seed Dispersal of Attalea Phalerata (Palmae) by Crested Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in the Pantanal and a Review of Frugivory by Raptors. Ararajuba 12(21): 133-135
Glazener W (1964) Note on the Feeding Habits of the Caracara in South Texas. Condor 66(2): 11
GRAS - Banco de datos agroclimáticos | INIA. Accedido el 21/11/2025. http://www.inia.uy/gras/Clima/Banco-datos-agroclimatico
Hall ZJ, Street SE, Auty S, Healy SD (2015) The coevolution of building nests on the ground and domed nests in Timaliidae. The Auk 132(3): 584–593. https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-15-23.1
Harrington KJ, Biondi LM, Lambert ML (2025) Rethinking Raptors: Caracaras as a Model for Avian Cognition in the Wild. Animal Cognition 28(1): 89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-02007-3
Harrington KJ, Folkertsma R, Auersperg AM, Biondi L, Lambert ML (2024) Innovative Problem Solving by Wild Falcons. Current Biology 34(1): 190-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.061
Hermann H, Meise W (1965) Untersuchungen zur Brutbiologie des Töpfervogels, Furnarius rufus (Gmelin), auf einer argentinischen Hacienda. Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg, Neue Folge 10: 145
Martin TE, Boyce AJ, Fierro-Calderón Karolina (2017) Enclosed Nests May Provide Greater Thermal than Nest Predation Benefits Compared with Open Nests across Latitudes. Functional Ecology 31(6): 1231–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12819
Masson DA, Gallardo JC (2017) Observations of Intraguild Nest Predation Involving Three Species of Raptors in Argentina. Journal of Raptor Research 51(4): 485–488
Mentesana L, Amador A, Amorim P, Delhey K, Diniz P, Rosendo F, Mindlin GB, Reboreda JC, Schaaf A, Tassino B, Adreani NM (2024) Biology of the Rufous Hornero, from Mechanisms to Behavioral Ecology: A Potential Neotropical Model Species? Journal of Field Ornithology 95(4): 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/JFO-00544-950402
Mentesana L, Moiron M, Guedes E, Cavalli E, Tassino B, Adreani NM (2020) Defending as a Unit: Sex- and Context-Specific Territorial Defence in a Duetting Bird. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 74 (9): 111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02891-4
Montalvo CI, Tallade PO, Fernández FJ, Moreira GJ, Rafuse DJ, De Santis LJ (2011) Bone damage patterns found in the avian prey remains of crested caracara Caracara plancus (Aves, Falconiformes). Journal of Archaeological Science 38(12): 3541–3548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.021
Morici A (2009) Las aves en la dieta de Tyto alba tuidara (J. E. Gray, 1929) (Aves: Tytonidae) en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Primeros datos. Xolmis 4: 19–24
Morrison JL, Abrams J, Deyrup M, Eisner T, McMillian M (2007) Noxious Menu: Chemically Protected Insects in the Diet of Caracara cheriway (Northern Crested Caracara). Southeastern Naturalist 6(1): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1656/1528-7092(2007)6%255B1:NMCPII%255D2.0.CO;2
Morrison JL, Dwyer JF (2023) Carancho (Caracara plancus), versión 1.1. En: Birds of the World, Medrano F, Billerman SM (eds). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.y00678.01.1. Accedido el 21/11/2025
Morrison JL, Pias KE, Abrams J, Gottlieb IG, Deyrup M, McMillian M (2008) Invertebrate Diet of Breeding and Nonbreeding Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in Florida. Journal of Raptor Research 42(1): 38–47. https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-07-47.1
Mouton JC, Martin TE (2019) Nest Structure Affects Auditory and Visual Detectability, but Not Predation Risk, in a Tropical Songbird Community. Functional Ecology 33(10): 1973–1981. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13405
de la Peña MR (1990) Acción predadora de culebras sobre pichones de aves. Nuestras Aves, 22: 32–32. https://doi.org/10.56178/na.vi22.764
de la Peña MR (2025) Aves Argentinas: Descripción, comportamiento, reproducción y distribución. Tomo 7: Cathartidae, Pandionidae, Accipitridae, Tytonidae, Strigidae, Trogonidae, Alcedinidae, Momotidae, Galbulidae, Bucconidae, Ramphastidae, Picidae, Cariamidae, Falconidae, Psittacidae, Thamnophilidae, Melanopareiidae, Conopophacidae, Grallariidae, Rhinocryptidae, Formicariidae. Comunicaciones del Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales Florentino Ameghino (Nueva Serie), Santa Fe
Potier P, Duriez O, Célérier A, Liegeois JL, Bonadonna F (2019) Sight or Smell: Which Senses Do Scavenging Raptors Use to Find Food? Animal Cognition 22(1): 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-018-1220-0
Remsen J, Bonan A (2020) Hornero (Furnarius rufus), versión 1.0. En: Birds of the World, Medrano F, Billerman SM (eds). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rufhor2.01. Accedido el 21/11/2025
Salvador SA (2012) Dieta y reproducción del Halcón Aplomado (Falco femoralis femoralis) en Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina. Historia Natural 3(2): 111–118
Salvador SA (2016) Registros de depredadores de huevos, pichones y volantones de aves de Argentina. Acta Zoológica Lilloana 60(2): 136–147
Sánchez K, Malizia A, Bó M (2008) Trophic Ecology of the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) in Urban Environments of Mar Chiquita Biosphere Reserve (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). Ornitología Neotropical 19: 71-80
Santillán MA, Galmes MA, Reyes MM, Costan AS, Álvarez HL, Sarasola JH, Solaro C (2008a) Dieta del Caburé Chico (Glaucidium brasilianum) en el bosque semiárido del centro de Argentina. En Aves Argentinas (eds) Libro de Resúmenes XII RAO 2008. San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, pp 182
Santillán MA, Costan AS, Álvarez HL, Zanon JI, Procopio DE, Yaya M, Travaini A, Martínez Peck R. (2008b) Dieta del Caburé Grande (Glaucidium nanum) en la estepa patagónica Argentina. En Aves Argentinas (eds) Libro de Resúmenes XII RAO 2008. San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, pp 175
Sazima I (2007) The jack-of-all-trades raptor: versatile foraging and wide trophic role of the Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Brazil, with comments on feeding habits of the Caracarini. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(4): 592–597
Souto JP, Meller DA, Kasper CB (2024) Adaptive nesting and diet data of the Collared Forest-Falcon (Micrastur semitorquatus) in southern Brazil. Acta Zoologica Lilloana 68(2): 565. https://doi.org/10.30550/j.azl/1985
Travaini A, Donázar JA, Ceballos O, Hiraldo F (2001) Food habits of the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) in the Andean Patagonia: the role of breeding constraints. Journal of Arid Environments 48(2): 211–219. https://doi.org/10.1006/jare.2000.0745
Vargas RJ, Bó MS, Favero M (2007) Diet of the Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Mar Chiquita Reserve, Southern Argentina. Journal of Raptor Research 41(2): 113–121
Vaz-Ferreira R, Palermo (1973) Sucesión y moldes de actividad en la construcción del nido de Furnarius rufus rufus (Gmelin). Revista de Biología del Uruguay 1: 103–20
Yosef R, Yosef D (1992) Hunting Behavior of Audubon’s Crested Caracara. Journal of Raptor Research 26(2): 101–102

How to cite

Lucio Garreta, Noelle Rivas-Ortiz (2026). First record of predation on a Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) nest by a Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus). Nuestras Aves, Vol. 71 (2026). https://doi.org/10.56178/na.v71i.1186

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[1] Amorim PS, Diniz P, Rossi MF, Guaraldo AC (2022) Out of sight, out of mind: dear enemy effect in the rufous hornero, Furarius rufus. Animal Behaviour 187: 167–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.03.010

[2] Baladrón AV, Bó MS (2017). Dieta del Lechuzón Orejudo (Asio clamator) en el límite austral de su distribución. Ornitología Neotropical 28: 51-56. https://doi.org/10.58843/ornneo.v28i0.163

[3] Camacho I, Honorato R, Fernandes BC, Boechat RF, Filho C, Ferreiro M (2013) Diurnal raptors foraging tanajuras (Atta sp.) in flight in a fragmented landscape of the Atlantic forest, southeastern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia - Brazilian Journal of Ornithology 20(47): 3

[4] Di Giacomo AG (2005) Aves de la reserva El Bagual. En: Di Giacomo AG y Krapovickas SF (eds) Historia natural y Paisaje de la Reserva El Bagual, Provincia de Formosa, Argentina. Inventario de la fauna de vertebrados y de la flora vascular de un área protegida del Chaco húmedo. Aves Argentinas/Asociación Ornitológica del Plata, Buenos Aires, pp 201-465

[5] Diniz P (2020) Opportunistic Predation Reveals a Hidden Cost of Fighting in Birds. Ornithology Research 28 (3): 178–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-020-00020-3

[6] Diniz P, Júnior EF, Webster MS, Macedo RH (2018) Duetting Behavior in a Neotropical Ovenbird: Sexual and Seasonal Variation and Adaptive Signaling Functions. Journal of Avian Biology 49(4): jav-01637. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01637

[7] Formoso AE, D’Agostino RL, Agüero ML, Agu EA (2024) Predation by Crested Caracaras (Caracara plancus) on Nests of the Endemic White-headed Steamer-Ducks (Tachyeres leucocephalus). Journal of Raptor Research 58(2): 235–240. https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-23-28

[8] Fraga RM (1980) The Breeding of Rufous Horneros (Furnarius rufus). The Condor 82(1): 58–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/1366785

[9] Galetti M, Guimarães PR Jr (2004) Seed Dispersal of Attalea Phalerata (Palmae) by Crested Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in the Pantanal and a Review of Frugivory by Raptors. Ararajuba 12(21): 133-135

[10] Glazener W (1964) Note on the Feeding Habits of the Caracara in South Texas. Condor 66(2): 11

[11] GRAS - Banco de datos agroclimáticos | INIA. Accedido el 21/11/2025. http://www.inia.uy/gras/Clima/Banco-datos-agroclimatico

[12] Hall ZJ, Street SE, Auty S, Healy SD (2015) The coevolution of building nests on the ground and domed nests in Timaliidae. The Auk 132(3): 584–593. https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-15-23.1

[13] Harrington KJ, Biondi LM, Lambert ML (2025) Rethinking Raptors: Caracaras as a Model for Avian Cognition in the Wild. Animal Cognition 28(1): 89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-02007-3

[14] Harrington KJ, Folkertsma R, Auersperg AM, Biondi L, Lambert ML (2024) Innovative Problem Solving by Wild Falcons. Current Biology 34(1): 190-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.061

[15] Hermann H, Meise W (1965) Untersuchungen zur Brutbiologie des Töpfervogels, Furnarius rufus (Gmelin), auf einer argentinischen Hacienda. Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg, Neue Folge 10: 145

[16] Martin TE, Boyce AJ, Fierro-Calderón Karolina (2017) Enclosed Nests May Provide Greater Thermal than Nest Predation Benefits Compared with Open Nests across Latitudes. Functional Ecology 31(6): 1231–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12819

[17] Masson DA, Gallardo JC (2017) Observations of Intraguild Nest Predation Involving Three Species of Raptors in Argentina. Journal of Raptor Research 51(4): 485–488

[18] Mentesana L, Amador A, Amorim P, Delhey K, Diniz P, Rosendo F, Mindlin GB, Reboreda JC, Schaaf A, Tassino B, Adreani NM (2024) Biology of the Rufous Hornero, from Mechanisms to Behavioral Ecology: A Potential Neotropical Model Species? Journal of Field Ornithology 95(4): 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/JFO-00544-950402

[19] Mentesana L, Moiron M, Guedes E, Cavalli E, Tassino B, Adreani NM (2020) Defending as a Unit: Sex- and Context-Specific Territorial Defence in a Duetting Bird. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 74 (9): 111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02891-4

[20] Montalvo CI, Tallade PO, Fernández FJ, Moreira GJ, Rafuse DJ, De Santis LJ (2011) Bone damage patterns found in the avian prey remains of crested caracara Caracara plancus (Aves, Falconiformes). Journal of Archaeological Science 38(12): 3541–3548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.021

[21] Morici A (2009) Las aves en la dieta de Tyto alba tuidara (J. E. Gray, 1929) (Aves: Tytonidae) en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Primeros datos. Xolmis 4: 19–24

[22] Morrison JL, Abrams J, Deyrup M, Eisner T, McMillian M (2007) Noxious Menu: Chemically Protected Insects in the Diet of Caracara cheriway (Northern Crested Caracara). Southeastern Naturalist 6(1): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1656/1528-7092(2007)6%255B1:NMCPII%255D2.0.CO;2

[23] Morrison JL, Dwyer JF (2023) Carancho (Caracara plancus), versión 1.1. En: Birds of the World, Medrano F, Billerman SM (eds). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.y00678.01.1. Accedido el 21/11/2025

[24] Morrison JL, Pias KE, Abrams J, Gottlieb IG, Deyrup M, McMillian M (2008) Invertebrate Diet of Breeding and Nonbreeding Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in Florida. Journal of Raptor Research 42(1): 38–47. https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-07-47.1

[25] Mouton JC, Martin TE (2019) Nest Structure Affects Auditory and Visual Detectability, but Not Predation Risk, in a Tropical Songbird Community. Functional Ecology 33(10): 1973–1981. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13405

[26] de la Peña MR (1990) Acción predadora de culebras sobre pichones de aves. Nuestras Aves, 22: 32–32. https://doi.org/10.56178/na.vi22.764

[27] de la Peña MR (2025) Aves Argentinas: Descripción, comportamiento, reproducción y distribución. Tomo 7: Cathartidae, Pandionidae, Accipitridae, Tytonidae, Strigidae, Trogonidae, Alcedinidae, Momotidae, Galbulidae, Bucconidae, Ramphastidae, Picidae, Cariamidae, Falconidae, Psittacidae, Thamnophilidae, Melanopareiidae, Conopophacidae, Grallariidae, Rhinocryptidae, Formicariidae. Comunicaciones del Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales Florentino Ameghino (Nueva Serie), Santa Fe

[28] Potier P, Duriez O, Célérier A, Liegeois JL, Bonadonna F (2019) Sight or Smell: Which Senses Do Scavenging Raptors Use to Find Food? Animal Cognition 22(1): 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-018-1220-0

[29] Remsen J, Bonan A (2020) Hornero (Furnarius rufus), versión 1.0. En: Birds of the World, Medrano F, Billerman SM (eds). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rufhor2.01. Accedido el 21/11/2025

[30] Salvador SA (2012) Dieta y reproducción del Halcón Aplomado (Falco femoralis femoralis) en Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina. Historia Natural 3(2): 111–118

[31] Salvador SA (2016) Registros de depredadores de huevos, pichones y volantones de aves de Argentina. Acta Zoológica Lilloana 60(2): 136–147

[32] Sánchez K, Malizia A, Bó M (2008) Trophic Ecology of the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) in Urban Environments of Mar Chiquita Biosphere Reserve (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). Ornitología Neotropical 19: 71-80

[33] Santillán MA, Galmes MA, Reyes MM, Costan AS, Álvarez HL, Sarasola JH, Solaro C (2008a) Dieta del Caburé Chico (Glaucidium brasilianum) en el bosque semiárido del centro de Argentina. En Aves Argentinas (eds) Libro de Resúmenes XII RAO 2008. San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, pp 182

[34] Santillán MA, Costan AS, Álvarez HL, Zanon JI, Procopio DE, Yaya M, Travaini A, Martínez Peck R. (2008b) Dieta del Caburé Grande (Glaucidium nanum) en la estepa patagónica Argentina. En Aves Argentinas (eds) Libro de Resúmenes XII RAO 2008. San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, pp 175

[35] Sazima I (2007) The jack-of-all-trades raptor: versatile foraging and wide trophic role of the Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Brazil, with comments on feeding habits of the Caracarini. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(4): 592–597

[36] Souto JP, Meller DA, Kasper CB (2024) Adaptive nesting and diet data of the Collared Forest-Falcon (Micrastur semitorquatus) in southern Brazil. Acta Zoologica Lilloana 68(2): 565. https://doi.org/10.30550/j.azl/1985

[37] Travaini A, Donázar JA, Ceballos O, Hiraldo F (2001) Food habits of the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) in the Andean Patagonia: the role of breeding constraints. Journal of Arid Environments 48(2): 211–219. https://doi.org/10.1006/jare.2000.0745

[38] Vargas RJ, Bó MS, Favero M (2007) Diet of the Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Mar Chiquita Reserve, Southern Argentina. Journal of Raptor Research 41(2): 113–121

[39] Vaz-Ferreira R, Palermo (1973) Sucesión y moldes de actividad en la construcción del nido de Furnarius rufus rufus (Gmelin). Revista de Biología del Uruguay 1: 103–20

[40] Yosef R, Yosef D (1992) Hunting Behavior of Audubon’s Crested Caracara. Journal of Raptor Research 26(2): 101–102