Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) [XC823554]
by Bernard BOUSQUET from Taquaral de Goi\u00e1s, Taquaral de Goi\u00e1s, Goi\u00e1s, Brazil (song)
Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) [XC361501]
by Paul Marvin from Kissimmee Prairie Preserve, Okeechobee County, Florida, United States (begging call)
Subspecies
Polyborus plancus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into cheriway (AOU 2000, SACC 2005) and plancus (SACC 2005) and both placed in the genus Caracara following AOU (2000) and SACC (2005).
Extinct form lutosus of Guadalupe I (off western Mexico) frequently treated as full species, but now generally considered a subspecies of Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus). Subspecies audubonii of doubtful validity, and often merged with cheriway. Subspecies ammophilus described from western Mexico, but even more dubious, and normally included within audubonii.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
pallidus Nelson, 1898 - Tres Marías Is, off western Mexico.
audubonii Cassin, 1865 - Southern USA (Florida; Texas to Arizona) through Central America to western Panama; Cuba, I of Pines.
cheriway (Jacquin, 1784) - Eastern Panama through central and eastern Colombia to the Guianas and south to northern Peru and R Amazon; Aruba (Netherlands Antilles) east to Trinidad. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway).
plancus (J. F. Miller, 1777) - Central Peru and central Bolivia east to Amazon Delta and south to Tierra del Fuego; Falkland Is.
lutosus! (Miller, 1777) - Isla Guadaloupe, Mexico. Extinct. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Guadalupe Caracara (Caracara lutosa).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet