Milvago

Milvago is a genus of bird of prey in the family Falconidae.

Milvago
Chimango caracara (Milvago chimango)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes
Family:	Falconidae
Subfamily:	Polyborinae
Genus:	Milvago Spix, 1824
Type species
Milvago ochrocephalus[1] von Spix, 1824

Species

Milvago contains two extant species:

Genus Milvago – Spix, 1824 – two species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Yellow-headed caracara	Milvago chimachima (Vieillot, 1816)	Costa Rica south through Trinidad and Tobago to northern Argentina (the provinces of Misiones, Chaco, Formosa, Corrientes and Santa Fe)	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Chimango caracara	Milvago chimango (Vieillot, 1816) Two subspecies M. c. caracara M. c. temucoensis	Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and south of Brazil.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

They are native to South America and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, 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 much further north into Cuba and Hispaniola.

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)^[2]

A paleosubspecies of the yellow-headed caracara from Florida is also known.