Milvago Explained

Milvago is a genus of bird of prey in the family Falconidae.

Species

Milvago contains two extant species:

Image Scientific name Common NameDistribution
Milvago chimachimaCosta Rica south through Trinidad and Tobago to northern Argentina (the provinces of Misiones, Chaco, Formosa, Corrientes and Santa Fe)
Milvago chimangoArgentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and south of Brazil.

They are native to South America and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, with M. chimachima just reaching to the Isthmus of Panama and into Costa Rica, though recently having expanded its range into the northern part of the country. Prehistorically the genus extended much further north into Cuba and Hispaniola, where it might have become extinct as late as after the arrival of the first humans in the early Holocene, though there is no evidence for this at present and they more likely disappeared already during the last glacial period.

Fossil species

A paleosubspecies of the yellow-headed caracara from Florida is also known.

Notes and References

  1. Suárez. William. 2020-05-22. The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba. Zootaxa. en. 4780. 1. zootaxa.4780.1.1. 10.11646/zootaxa.4780.1.1. 33055754 . 219510089 . 1175-5334.