Northern Crested Caracara - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Though the Northern Caracaras of our time are not divided into subspecies as their variation is clinal, prehistoric subspecies are known. Due to the confused taxonomic history of the crested caracaras, their relationships to the modern birds are in need of restudy:

• Caracara cheriway grinnelli (La Brea Caracara: Late Pleistocene of California)
• Caracara cheriway prelutosus (Late Pleistocene of Mexico)

The former almost certainly represents birds which were the direct ancestors of the living population. The latter may actually be the ancestor of the Guadalupe Caracara.