The falcons and caracaras are around 65 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae. The family likely originated in South America during the Paleocene and is divided into three subfamilies: Herpetotherinae, which includes the laughing falcon and forest falcons; Polyborinae, which includes the spot-winged falconet and the caracaras; and Falconinae, the falcons and kestrels (Falco) and falconets (Microhierax).
Chusquea is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina.
Caracaras are birds of prey in the family Falconidae. They are traditionally placed in subfamily Polyborinae with the forest falcons, but are sometimes considered to constitute their own subfamily, Caracarinae, or classified as members of the true falcon subfamily, Falconinae. Caracaras are principally birds of South and Central America, just reaching the southern United States.
Psidium is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Myrtaceae. It is native to warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere. Many of the species bear edible fruits, and for this reason several are cultivated commercially. The most popularly cultivated species is the common guava, Psidium guajava.
The Amazonian motmot is a colorful near-passerine bird in the family Momotidae. It is found in the Amazon lowlands and low Andean foothills from eastern Venezuela to eastern Brazil and northeastern Argentina.
The little tinamou is a species of tinamou. It is found in Central and South America, as well as on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
The bat falcon is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found in Mexico, Central America, Trinidad, and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
Gaultheria is a genus of about 283 species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae. The name commemorates Jean François Gaultier of Quebec, an honour bestowed by the Scandinavian Pehr Kalm in 1748 and taken up by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum. These plants are native to Asia, Australasia and North and South America. In the past, the Southern Hemisphere species were often treated as the separate genus Pernettya, but no consistent reliable morphological or genetic differences support recognition of two genera, and they are now united in the single genus Gaultheria.
The laughing falcon is a medium-sized bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found from Mexico south through Central America and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
Schinus is a genus of flowering trees and tall shrubs in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as pepper trees. The Peruvian pepper tree is the source of the spice known as pink peppercorn.
The yellow-headed caracara is new-world bird of prey in the family Falconidae, of the Falconiformes order. It is found as far north as Nicaragua, south to Costa Rica and Panamá, every mainland South American country, and on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The olivaceous woodcreeper is a passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found from central Mexico south through every Central American country, on the island of Tobago, and in every mainland South American country except Chile, French Guiana, and Suriname.
Pouteria is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. The genus is widespread throughout the tropical Americas, with outlier species in Cameroon and Malesia. It includes the canistel, the mamey sapote, and the lucuma. Commonly, this genus is known as pouteria trees, or in some cases, eggfruits.
Weinmannia is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae. It contains 90 species, which range from Mexico through Central and South America including the Caribbean, and to the Mascarene Islands in the western Indian Ocean. It is absent from mainland Africa and Australia, but some fossils have been attributed to Weinmannia in Australia.
Crypturellus is a genus of tinamous containing mostly forest species. However, there are the odd few that are grassland or steppe tinamous. The genus contains 21 species.
The least nighthawk is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The barred forest falcon is a species of bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It occurs from southern Mexico south through most of Central America and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
The chimango caracara also known as chimango or tiuque is a species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as a vagrant on the Falkland Islands and has been introduced on Rapa Nui.
Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The best-known species to gardeners in temperate areas are B. berteroana and B. miersii because of their frost tolerance. Seeds of B. bancroftii were used as a source of food by Australian Aborigines. Timbers of some species are very valuable.
Caracara is a genus in the family Falconidae and the subfamily Polyborinae. It contains one extant species, the crested caracara, and one recently extinct species, the Guadalupe caracara. The crested caracara had in recent years been split into a northern species C. cheriway and a southern species C. plancus, but the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society has voted to again merge the two, retaining C. plancus as the crested caracara. The taxonomists of the International Ornithologists' Union have also merged them.