Water Reservoirs and Power Lines as Mortality Sources for Crested Caracaras

JUAN MANUEL GRANDE; MAXIMILIANO ADRIAN GALMES; MIGUEL ÁNGEL SANTILLAN; CLAUDINA SOLARO; MARÍA SOLEDAD LIÉBANA; ISABEL MARÍA LUQUE-ROMERO; ANA PAULA MANSILLA; MARCOS MATÍAS REYES; MARGARITA CERVIO

JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH

RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC

Lugar: Lawrence, Kansas; Año: 2024 vol. 58 p. 1 - 7

0892-1016

Human infrastructure is composed of anthropogenic elements that may affect the survival of birds generally, and raptors specifically. Stock tanks and power poles are two types of human infrastructure with histories of killing raptors through drowning and electrocution, respectively. The Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) is one of the most common raptors across several environments in South America, and is consequently exposed to a wide variety of human infrastructure, including stock tanks and power lines. Despite the abundance of the species, we could find almost no records of Crested Caracaras drowning in stock tanks, and we found only two records of potential electrocutions. To help fill that gap, here we report the drowning of three Crested Caracaras and the electrocution of another three in Argentina. We do not know if these agents of mortality may have population-level effects; that will require telemetry-based studies in South America. However, we can suggest that education of stakeholders involving the promotion of mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate the risk of drownings and electrocutions will be needed to reduce infrastructure-related mortality in this species.