Conservation group supported by The Peregrine Fund discovers nest of rare bird of prey in Central America
June 2013. For the first time in more than 50 years, researchers have found a nest of one of Central America's rarest birds of prey, raising hope that there is still time to prevent its extinction in this region.
Populations crashed
For unknown reasons, populations of the once-common Red-throated Caracara (Ibycter americanus) have crashed in Mexico and Central America, according to the Honduran Conservation Coalition, which made the discovery.
Honduras
The nest was found in Honduras, deep in the pine forests of the north-eastern province of Olancho. In February and March, local conservationist Isidro Zuniga located and tracked three small groups of caracaras across some of the most remote terrain in Honduras, according to Mark Bonta, a geographer at Penn State-Altoona and leader of the research team. Every day for six weeks, Zuniga sat in a blind and recorded the daily activities of a caracara family that raised a single chick.
Common in parts of South America
The Red-throated Caracara is still common in parts of South America, but until recently was believed to be gone from its former range north of Panama.
"The challenge for scientists and conservationists is figuring out what has caused the species' precipitous decline and how to save it," Bonta said. "If a pathogen is at fault, then even the South American birds may not be safe."
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