Water Reservoirs and Power Lines as Mortality Sources for Crested Caracaras

Two adult Crested Caracaras drowned in a stock tank in Pichi Mahuida, southern La Pampa Province, Argentina, in 2022. Photo credits: J. M. Grande (top) and M. A. Galmes (bottom).

Top row: An adult Crested Caracara was electrocuted and ignited together with a Monk Parakeet nest on an electrical pylon and grasses beneath the pylon in 2019 in Reserva Provincial Parque Luro, La Pampa Province, Argentina (top left). The electrocution occurred on a grounded concrete corner pylon with polymer horizontal insulators, two metal crossarms, and uninsulated jumpers (top right; top row photo credits: M. M. Reyes). Bottom row: A juvenile Crested Caracara was electrocuted on a grounded concrete power pylon with wood crossarms and vertical pin insulators in 2021 in Trenel, La Pampa Province, Argentina; bottom left and bottom right. The bird’s left primaries were charred (bottom center; Photo credits: M. Cervio).

A concrete electrical pylon with a metal crossarm and vertical pin insulators is staged in March 2023 to replace a wood pylon in a power line in La Pampa Province, Argentina (37°25′32.64″S, 64°17′23.08″W). Photo credit: J. M. Grande.