Meanings
plural caracaras
- Any of several South American and Central American birds of prey in the subfamily Caracarinae.
The caracara's flight is direct and rapid, not at all like that of the vulture, which sails and soars in spirals.
1911, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, 24th edition, published 1939, page 1061 more example
A few still live on the remote coasts of Tierra del Fuego, and though warrahs and gauchos vanished from the Falklands soon after Darwin's visit, striated caracaras still cling to life on the archipelago's outer islands, where they hunt and scavenge in colonies of penguins, seals, and albatrosses.
2021, Jonathan Meiburg, A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey, Vintage, →ISBN, page 8
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Portuguesecarcará
- Spanishcaracara
- Englishcaracara
From Spanish caracara or Portuguese carcará, from Tupian, probably imitative.
More words from Spanish, Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan caracarà
- caracaràbird of prey
Finnish karakara
- karakarabird of prey
German Geierfalke
- Geierfalkebird of prey
Portuguese carcará, caracará
- carcarábird of prey
- caracarábird of prey
Romanian caracara
- caracarabird of prey
Spanish caracará, carancho
- caracarábird of prey
- caranchobird of prey
Cite this entry
caracara. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caracara
“caracara.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caracara. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “caracara,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caracara.
Source: caracara on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.