Kingdom: animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: birds
Order: falconforms
Family: falconry
Gender: Polyborus
Species:Polyborus lutosus
The Caracara-de-Guadalupe, Polyborus lutosus, was a species of bird of prey that lived in Mexico, being restricted to the Island of Guadalupe. Relatively large in size (60 centimeters long), its plumage had a white coloration with light and dark brown regions, and the face and paw were yellowish in color.
It built its nests on cliff tops and hard-to-reach areas, laying approximately three eggs a year in April. With daytime habits, it fed on crustaceans, rodents, earthworms, insects and also corpses.
Quite docile and without great fears for the human species, its few specimens were easily hunted, mainly due to the action of the colonists – the same ones who described them in 1876. The reason was related to the fact that these birds created the habit of also feeding on young sheep, which were introduced in this territory.
At the end of the 19th century, with the abandonment of the island by the settlers, it was believed that this species, with its population considerably reduced, would manage to reestablish itself over time. However, in 1900, the ornithologist Rollo Beck, when visiting the island, believed that the eleven specimens of Guadalupe Carcará-de-Guadalupe he found were common birds. Thus, he took with him nine copies, which he sacrificed for further study.
After this event, no individuals of this species were sighted again.
By Mariana Araguaia
Graduated in Biology
Brazil School Team
Extinct animals -Animals -Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/animais/carcaradeguadalupe-polyborus-lutosus.htm