Phalcoboenus

Phalcoboenus is a small genus of caracara in the family Falconidae. They are found in barren, open habitats in the Andes, Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. The four species are almost entirely allopatric. The adults are distinctive, with bare yellow, orange or red facial skin and cere, and a black plumage with variable amounts of white. Juveniles are overall brown with pale pinkish-grey facial skin and cere. They are highly opportunistic and typically seen walking on the ground, where they will feed on carrion and virtually any small animal they can catch.

Phalcoboenus
Mountain caracara (Phalcoboenus megalopterus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes
Family:	Falconidae
Subfamily:	Polyborinae
Genus:	Phalcoboenus d'Orbigny, 1834
Type species
Phalcoboenus montanus[1] d'Orbigny, 1834
Species
Phalcoboenus carunculatus Phalcoboenus megalopterus Phalcoboenus albogularis Phalcoboenus australis Phalcoboenus napieri †
Synonyms[2]
Phalcobaenus d'Orbigny, 1835[3] Phalcobenus Geoffroy, 1836 Falcobaenus Lafresnaye, 1839 Falcoboenus Giebel, 1874 Oronertus Heine & Reichenow, 1890[4] Phascobaenus Jardine & Selby, 1838 Phalocoboenus Fraser, 1843 Phacobaenus Bonaparte, 1850

The name is derived from Greek: φάλκων 'phálcōn' (hawk, falcon) and βαίνω 'baínō' (I go, I walk).^[5] The original lithograph print produced for Alcide d'Orbigny is captioned "Phalcobœnus montanus" with an o-e ligature,^[6] but his later text has "Phalcobænus montanus" with a-e ligature in "Phalcobaenus".^[5]

Species

There are four extant and one extinct species.

The extant species are:

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Phalcoboenus carunculatus	Carunculated caracara	Ecuador and Colombia.
	Phalcoboenus megalopterus	Mountain caracara	Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina
	Phalcoboenus albogularis	White-throated caracara	southern Chile and Argentina
	Phalcoboenus australis	Striated caracara	Tierra del Fuego, but is more abundant in the Falklands

The extinct species is Phalcoboenus napieri which is known from subfossil remains unearthed in peat deposits from the Falkland Islands, described in 2016 and named for Roddy Napier, the owner of West Point Island in the Falklands.^[7]

References

1. "Falconidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
2. Rees, Tony (2011). "Phalcoboenus d'Orbigny, 1834". Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
3. Rees, Tony (2011). "Phalcobaenus d'Orbigny, 1835". Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
4. Heine, Ferdinand; Reichenow, Anton (1890). Nomenclator Musei Heineani Ornithologici (Nomencl. Mus. Hein.): Verzeichniss der Vogel-Sammlung des Kgl. Oberamtmanns Ferdinand Heine auf Klostergut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt. Berlin: R. Friedländer & Sohn. Genus Oronertus Heine (!) [Phalcobaenus Lafr. 1837]. / 1. megalopterus (Meyen) … Page 272. Heine senior's collection contained three specimens of O./P. megalopterus from Patagonia and Bolivia, carunculatus is not catalogued. They list Ichthyoborus, Alectromorphuus (Buteogallus), Heterospizias, Hypomorphuus, Erythrocnema, Milvago, Polyborus, Daptrius, and Ibycter as sister genera under subfamily Polyborinae.
5. d'Orbigny, Alcide Dessalines (1835). "Genré Phalcobène, Phalcobænis, Nob.". Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale … tome 4 part 3, Oiseaux (in French). p. 50. De φάλκων, faucon, et de βαίνω, je marche : Faucon marcheur.
6. E. Traviés (pinx't), François (sculp.), Levrault (editeur), "Phalcobœnus montanus, P. … junior, et l'œufs de Polyborus chimango" in d'Orbigny, Alcide Dessalines (1847). Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale … tome 9, Atlas, Zoologie (in French). Oiseaux pl. 2.
7. Mark P. Adams; Robin W. Woods (2016). "Mid-Holocene Falkland Islands bird bones from a peat deposit, including a new species of caracara". Emu. doi:10.1071/MU15129

• Jaramillo, Alvaro, Burke, Peter, & Beadle, David (2003). Birds of Chile. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-4688-8.