Caracaras: An Opportunity for Expanding Cognitive Research

HARRINGTON, KATIE J.; BIONDI, L.M.; BALZA, U.; LAMBERT, M.

Congreso; Raptor Research Foundation Florida Ornithological Society; 2022

The social brain Comparative cognitive ecologists aim to understand the selective pressures that give rise to cognitive abilities. In mammals, a wide range of distinct taxa have been investigated, while most avian cognitive work has been limited to passerines (e.g., corvids, parids) and parrots (e.g., kea). Despite modern gene sequencing that has revealed falconids are a sister clade to parrots and songbirds (i.e., proposed clade Eufalconimorphae), falconids have not yet been widely considered as candidates for cognitive research. Striated caracara (Falconiformes, Phalcoboenus australis) are a little-studied, near-threatened species of conservation concern that inhabit the outer Falkland Islands and the southern tip of South America. The species exhibits many of the life history traits typically correlated with cognitive capabilities, including extended juvenile period, delayed sexual maturity, and long lifespan. They also share behavioral characteristics that have long been suggested as preconditions for cognitive abilities, including a fission fusion social system, cooperative behavior, and a generalist-opportunist foraging strategy. Moreover, they are island-restricted and have adapted to survive in a harsh sub-Antarctic environment, contexts that has been hypothesized to favor cognitive abilities. They are widely recognized by falconers and conservationists as social, intelligent, approachable, and inquisitive birds. In the species stronghold of the Falklands, individuals can be easily trapped, individually marked, and relocated over time. To expand our understanding of the socioecological conditions necessary for specific cognitive abilities to emerge across taxa, we therefore propose striated caracara as a model system for future cognitive ecology research. In this poster, we review in detail the ecological pressures and behavioral characteristics of striated caracara that have been long suggested for cognitive abilities.