# Daptrius
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{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = ''Daptrius''
| image = Black caracara (Daptrius ater) Rio Napo.jpg
| image_caption = [Black caracara](/source/Black_caracara) (''Daptrius ater'')
| taxon = Daptrius
| authority = [Vieillot](/source/Louis_Pierre_Vieillot), 1816
| type_species = ''[Daptrius ater](/source/Black_caracara)''
| type_species_authority = Vieillot, 1816
| synonyms = ''Milvago'' [Spix](/source/Johann_Baptist_von_Spix), 1824
''Phalcoboenus'' [d'Orbigny](/source/Alcide_d'Orbigny), 1834
}}
'''''Daptrius''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [birds of prey](/source/bird_of_prey) in the family [Falconidae](/source/Falconidae) comprising most of the [caracaras](/source/Caracara_(subfamily)). All members are endemic to South America, excepted the [yellow-headed caracara](/source/yellow-headed_caracara) also found in Costa Rica and Panama. The genus includes species previously placed in the genera ''Milvago'' and ''Phalcoboenus''.
==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Daptrius'' was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist [Louis Vieillot](/source/Louis_Pierre_Vieillot) to accommodate a single species, ''Datrius ater'' Vieillot, the [black caracara](/source/black_caracara). This is the [type species](/source/type_species).[{{cite book | last=Vieillot | first=Louis Pierre | author-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot | year=1816 | title=Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire
| publisher=Deterville/self | location=Paris | page=22 | language=French| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9745205x/f28.item }}][{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=391 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109031 }}] The genus name is from [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) δαπτης/''daptēs'' meaning "bloodsucker" or "eater", from δαπτω/''daptō'' meaning "to devour".[{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Daptrius | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Daptrius | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=31 October 2025 }}]
This genus now includes species that were formerly placed in the genera ''Milvago'' and ''Phalcoboenus''. Molecular genetic studies found that ''Milvago'' was [polyphyletic](/source/polyphyletic) with the [chimango caracara](/source/chimango_caracara) (''Milvago chimango'') [sister](/source/sister_group) to the genus ''Phalcoboenus'' and the [yellow-headed caracara](/source/yellow-headed_caracara) (''Milvago chimachima'') sister to ''Daptrius''.[{{Cite journal | last1=Fuchs | first1=J. | last2=Johnson | first2=J.A. | last3=Mindell | first3=D.P. | date=2012 | title=Molecular systematics of the caracaras and allies (Falconidae: Polyborinae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data | journal=Ibis | volume=154 | issue=3 | pages=520-532 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2012.01222.x | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256255461 }}][{{Cite journal | last1=Fuchs | first1=J. | last2=Johnson | first2=J.A. | last3=Mindell | first3=D.P. | date=2015 | title=Rapid diversification of falcons (Aves: Falconidae) due to expansion of open habitats in the Late Miocene | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=82 | pages=166-182 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2014.08.010 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266248448 }}] As the [genetic divergence](/source/genetic_divergence) was relatively shallow, the polyphyly was resolved by expanding the genus ''Daptrius'' to include the two other genera.[
The genus contains seven species:][{{ cite web | author=AviList Core Team | date=2025 | title=AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025 | doi=10.2173/avilist.v2025 | doi-access=free | url=http://www.avilist.org/checklist/v2025/ | access-date=16 October 2025 }}]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Common name !! Scientific name !! Distribution
|-
|120px||[Yellow-headed caracara](/source/Yellow-headed_caracara)||''Daptrius chimachima''
(formerly in ''Milvago'')||Costa Rica to north Argentina
|-
|120px||[Black caracara](/source/Black_caracara)||''Daptrius ater''||Amazonia
|-
|120px||[Chimango caracara](/source/Chimango_caracara)||''Daptrius chimango''
(formerly in ''Milvago'')||southern South America
|-
|120px||[Carunculated caracara](/source/Carunculated_caracara)||''Daptrius carunculatus''
(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||Ecuador and southwest Colombia
|-
|120px||[Mountain caracara](/source/Mountain_caracara)||''Daptrius megalopterus''
(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||Peru to central Chile
|-
|120px||[White-throated caracara](/source/White-throated_caracara)||''Daptrius albogularis''
(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||south Chile and south Argentina
|-
|120px||[Striated caracara](/source/Striated_caracara)||''Daptrius australis''
(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||[Tierra del Fuego](/source/Tierra_del_Fuego), [Isla de los Estados](/source/Isla_de_los_Estados) (Staten Island), [Navarino Island](/source/Navarino_Island), and [Falkland Islands](/source/Falkland_Islands)
|-
|}
==Fossil species==
*†''[Daptrius brodkorbi](/source/Daptrius_brodkorbi)'' (Late Pleistocene of Peru)
*†''[Daptrius alexandri](/source/Daptrius_alexandri)'' (Late Pleistocene of Hispaniola, West Indies)
*†''[Daptrius carbo](/source/Daptrius_carbo)'', Cuban caracara (Holocene of Cuba, West Indies)
*†''[Daptrius diazfrancoi](/source/Daptrius_diazfrancoi)'', Diaz Franco's caracara (Late Pleistocene of Cuba, West indies)
''D. c. readei'', a larger and stouter [paleosubspecies](/source/Chronospecies) of the yellow-headed caracara from the Late Pleistocene of Florida and possibly elsewhere, is also known.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Falconiformes|F.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q520013|from2=Q15874223}}
Category:Daptrius
Category:Bird genera
Category:Birds of South America
Category:Birds described in 1816
Category:Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot
{{Falconiformes-stub}}
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Daptrius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daptrius) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daptrius?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.