Milvago
Milvago is a genus of bird of prey in the family Falconidae.
| Milvago | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chimango caracara (Milvago chimango) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes |
| Family: | Falconidae |
| Genus: | Milvago Spix, 1824 |
Species
Milvago contains two extant species:
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Milvago chimachima | Yellow-headed caracara | Costa Rica south through Trinidad and Tobago to northern Argentina (the provinces of Misiones, Chaco, Formosa, Corrientes and Santa Fe) |
 | Milvago chimango | Chimango caracara | Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and south of Brazil. |
They are native to South America, with M. chimachima just reaching to the Isthmus of Panama and into Costa Rica, though recently having expanded its range into the northern part of the country. Prehistorically the genus extended into the Caribbean. There it might have become extinct as late as after the arrival of the first humans in the early Holocene, though there is no evidence for this at present and they more likely disappeared already during the last glacial period.
- Fossil species
- †Milvago brodkorbi (Late Pleistocene of Peru)
- †Milvago alexandri (Late Pleistocene of Hispaniola, West Indies)
- †Milvago carbo, Cuban caracara (Holocene of Cuba, West Indies)
- †Milvago diazfrancoi (Late Pleistocene of Cuba)[1]
A paleosubspecies of the yellow-headed caracara from Florida is also known.
References
- Suárez, William (2020-05-22). "The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba". Zootaxa. 4780 (1): 1–53. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4780.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
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