Record of a new food item in the diet of the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Brazil: fruits of the macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata)

Aloysio Moura; Mateus Pedrozo; Felipe Machado; Kalill Pascoa; Marco Fontes; Lucas Gomide

doi:10.56178/na.v71i.1217

Novel Records Published 07 November 2026 https://doi.org/10.56178/na.v71i.1217

Record of a new food item in the diet of the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Brazil: fruits of the macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata)

diet ecology Falconiformes feeding guild

Aloysio Moura Laboratório de Estudos e Projetos em Manejo Florestal (LEMAF), Departamento de Ciências Florestais (DCF), Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Mateus Pedrozo Laboratório de Estudos e Projetos em Manejo Florestal (LEMAF), Departamento de Ciências Florestais (DCF), Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil | Programa de graduação em Zootecnia, Departamento de Zootecnia (DZO)

Felipe Machado Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia (UESB), Itapetininga, Bahia, Brasil

Kalill Pascoa Laboratório de Estudos e Projetos em Manejo Florestal (LEMAF), Departamento de Ciências Florestais (DCF), Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Marco Fontes Laboratório de Ecologia Florestal, Departamento de Ciências Florestais (DCF), Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Lucas Gomide Laboratório de Estudos e Projetos em Manejo Florestal (LEMAF), Departamento de Ciências Florestais (DCF), Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

The Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) is described as an opportunistic bird that feeds on both carrion and live prey. It forages by scratching the ground with its feet in search of items such as peanuts and beans, and it also consumes oil palm fruits. The species exhibits a wide geographic distribution, ranging from Argentina to the southern United States, occupying a great variety of environments, except for the Andes Mountain range. Its most abundant populations are found in southeastern and northeastern Brazil. The objective of this manuscript is to report a new food item in the diet of the Crested Caracara in Brazil: the fruits of the macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata). The records were obtained during an avian community survey using Nikon Action 8×40 binoculars in the southern region of the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Further studies are recommended to better understand the importance of macaw palm in the diet of the Crested Caracara, as well as the role of this bird in plant-animal interactions, given that it might act as a seed disperser.

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References

Alvares CA, Stape JL, Sentelhas PC, Gonçalves JLM, Sparovek G (2013) Köppen’s climate classification map for Brazil. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 22(6): 711–728
Colombo CA, Berton LHC, Hernandez BGD, Ferrari RA (2018) Macauba: A promising tropical palm for the production of vegetable oil. OCL - Oilseeds and fats, Crops and Lipids, 25(1): D108
Morrison JL, Dwyer JF (2021) Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus), version 1.0. In: Birds of the World, Poole AF (ed.). Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.y00678.01. Accessed on 3/19/2026
Moura AS, Soares-Júnior FJ (2010) Ornitofilia (polinização por aves) em Aechmea maculata L.B. Smith (Bromeliaceae), registrada em um pequeno fragmento florestal no município de Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Atualidades Ornitológicas 158: 57–60
Moura AS, Corrêa BS, Pádua LM, Matavelli RA (2012) Predação de um anfíbio (Eupemphix nattereri) por Caracara plancus em Ituiutaba, Triângulo Mineiro, Brasil. Atualidades Ornitológicas 169: 12–13
Pacheco JF, Silveira LF, Aleixo A, Agne CE, Bencke GA, Bravo GA, Brito GRR, Cohn-Haft M, Maurício GN, Naka LN, Olmos F, Posso SR, Lees AC, Figueira LFA, Carrano E, Guedes RC, Cesari E, Franz I, Schunck F, Piacentini VQ (2021) Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee – second edition. Ornithology Research 29(2): 94–105
Ragusa-Netto J (2014) Crop damage of Eriotheca gracilipes (Bombacaceae) by the blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva, Psittacidae), in the Brazilian Cerrado. Brazilian Journal of Biology 74(4): 837–843
Reflora (2026) Acrocomia aculeata. http://servicos.jbrj.gov.br/flora/search/Acrocomia_aculeata. Accessed on 3/19/2026
Sick H (1997) Ornitologia Brasileira. Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro
da Silva PA (2007) Predação de sementes por periquitos Brotogeris chiriri (Psittacidae) em Chorisia speciosa (Bombacaceae). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(1): 127–129
Valderrama BC (2021) https://www.instagram.com/p/DQMAb4RgNhl/. Accessed on 10/19/2026
Villalba O & Fariña N (2023) El Carancho (Caracara plancus) alimentándose de frutos de palmera Mbocayá (Acrocomia aculeata) en Corrientes, Argentina. Nuestras Aves 68: 177–178. https://doi.org/10.56178/na.vi68.626
WikiAves (2026) Caracará (Caracara plancus). https://www.wikiaves.com.br/wiki/carcara. Accessed on 3/19/2026

How to cite

Aloysio Moura, Mateus Pedrozo, Felipe Machado, Kalill Pascoa, Marco Fontes, Lucas Gomide (2026). Record of a new food item in the diet of the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) in Brazil: fruits of the macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata). Nuestras Aves, Vol. 71 (2026). https://doi.org/10.56178/na.v71i.1217

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[1] Alvares CA, Stape JL, Sentelhas PC, Gonçalves JLM, Sparovek G (2013) Köppen’s climate classification map for Brazil. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 22(6): 711–728

[2] Colombo CA, Berton LHC, Hernandez BGD, Ferrari RA (2018) Macauba: A promising tropical palm for the production of vegetable oil. OCL - Oilseeds and fats, Crops and Lipids, 25(1): D108

[3] Morrison JL, Dwyer JF (2021) Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus), version 1.0. In: Birds of the World, Poole AF (ed.). Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.y00678.01. Accessed on 3/19/2026

[4] Moura AS, Soares-Júnior FJ (2010) Ornitofilia (polinização por aves) em Aechmea maculata L.B. Smith (Bromeliaceae), registrada em um pequeno fragmento florestal no município de Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Atualidades Ornitológicas 158: 57–60

[5] Moura AS, Corrêa BS, Pádua LM, Matavelli RA (2012) Predação de um anfíbio (Eupemphix nattereri) por Caracara plancus em Ituiutaba, Triângulo Mineiro, Brasil. Atualidades Ornitológicas 169: 12–13

[6] Pacheco JF, Silveira LF, Aleixo A, Agne CE, Bencke GA, Bravo GA, Brito GRR, Cohn-Haft M, Maurício GN, Naka LN, Olmos F, Posso SR, Lees AC, Figueira LFA, Carrano E, Guedes RC, Cesari E, Franz I, Schunck F, Piacentini VQ (2021) Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee – second edition. Ornithology Research 29(2): 94–105

[7] Ragusa-Netto J (2014) Crop damage of Eriotheca gracilipes (Bombacaceae) by the blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva, Psittacidae), in the Brazilian Cerrado. Brazilian Journal of Biology 74(4): 837–843

[8] Reflora (2026) Acrocomia aculeata. http://servicos.jbrj.gov.br/flora/search/Acrocomia_aculeata. Accessed on 3/19/2026

[9] Sick H (1997) Ornitologia Brasileira. Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro

[10] da Silva PA (2007) Predação de sementes por periquitos Brotogeris chiriri (Psittacidae) em Chorisia speciosa (Bombacaceae). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(1): 127–129

[11] Valderrama BC (2021) https://www.instagram.com/p/DQMAb4RgNhl/. Accessed on 10/19/2026

[12] Villalba O & Fariña N (2023) El Carancho (Caracara plancus) alimentándose de frutos de palmera Mbocayá (Acrocomia aculeata) en Corrientes, Argentina. Nuestras Aves 68: 177–178. https://doi.org/10.56178/na.vi68.626

[13] WikiAves (2026) Caracará (Caracara plancus). https://www.wikiaves.com.br/wiki/carcara. Accessed on 3/19/2026