Carunculated Caracara, Phalcoboenus carunculatus
Carunculated Caracaras are readily seen and photographed in the tundra (paramo) from the high-altitude road through Antisana Ecological Reserve, on the slope of a volcano a few miles from Quito. These handsome omnivorous falcons occupy a niche something like that of crows and ravens in North America, eating almost anything: carrion, insects, reptiles, smaller birds, and sometimes even plants.
