{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = ''Daptrius'' | image = Black caracara (Daptrius ater) Rio Napo.jpg | image_caption = Black caracara (''Daptrius ater'') | taxon = Daptrius | authority = Vieillot, 1816 | type_species = ''Daptrius ater'' | type_species_authority = Vieillot, 1816 | synonyms = ''Milvago'' <small>Spix, 1824</small><br>''Phalcoboenus'' <small>d'Orbigny, 1834</small> }}
'''''Daptrius''''' is a genus of birds of prey in the family Falconidae comprising most of the caracaras. All members are endemic to South America, excepted the 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 to accommodate a single species, ''Datrius ater'' Vieillot, the black caracara. This is the type species.<ref>{{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 }}<!--BHL has a scan of an 1883 reprint - same pagination http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12830237 --></ref><ref>{{ 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 }}</ref> The genus name is from Ancient Greek δαπτης/''daptēs'' meaning "bloodsucker" or "eater", from δαπτω/''daptō'' meaning "to devour".<ref>{{ 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 }}</ref>
This genus now includes species that were formerly placed in the genera ''Milvago'' and ''Phalcoboenus''. Molecular genetic studies found that ''Milvago'' was polyphyletic with the chimango caracara (''Milvago chimango'') sister to the genus ''Phalcoboenus'' and the yellow-headed caracara (''Milvago chimachima'') sister to ''Daptrius''.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref> As the genetic divergence was relatively shallow, the polyphyly was resolved by expanding the genus ''Daptrius'' to include the two other genera.<ref name=avilist/>
The genus contains seven species:<ref name=avilist>{{ 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 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Common name !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- |120px||Yellow-headed caracara||''Daptrius chimachima''<br>(formerly in ''Milvago'')||Costa Rica to north Argentina |- |120px||Black caracara||''Daptrius ater''||Amazonia |- |120px||Chimango caracara||''Daptrius chimango''<br>(formerly in ''Milvago'')||southern South America |- |120px||Carunculated caracara||''Daptrius carunculatus''<br>(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||Ecuador and southwest Colombia |- |120px||Mountain caracara||''Daptrius megalopterus''<br>(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||Peru to central Chile |- |120px||White-throated caracara||''Daptrius albogularis''<br>(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||south Chile and south Argentina |- |120px||Striated caracara||''Daptrius australis''<br>(formerly in ''Phalcoboenus'')||Tierra del Fuego, Isla de los Estados (Staten Island), Navarino Island, and Falkland Islands |- |}
==Fossil species== *†''Daptrius brodkorbi'' (Late Pleistocene of Peru) *†''Daptrius alexandri'' (Late Pleistocene of Hispaniola, West Indies) *†''Daptrius carbo'', Cuban caracara (Holocene of Cuba, West Indies) *†''Daptrius diazfrancoi'', Diaz Franco's caracara (Late Pleistocene of Cuba, West indies)
''D. c. readei'', a larger and stouter paleosubspecies 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}}