Chigüare or yellow headed cara cara

Chigüare or yellow headed cara cara

Milvago chimachima, it is the sound and congenial scientific name of this small hawk of the Venezuelan plains. He has inspired our folklore in the couplet that sings: Chirigüare/ Chirigüare/ Zamurito (the diminutive for Vulture) is gon'a eat you/ is gon'a eat you/ is gon'a eat you is gon'a eat you/ and it already ate you! This little hawk is in our folklore because in Venezuela it is found everywhere, in touch with our rural environment and with our people.

It Inhabits opene spaces of the llanos, the forest edges, those of the highways and cattle ranges, from sea level up to nine hundred meters altitude. It is active during daylight, relatively small, and its plumage shows an aesthetic combination of dark brown on the wings and beige or yellow body and head. It exhibits a dark stripe behind the eye and delicate dark and beige stripes on the tail.

The Chirigüare is much associated to cattle and herdsmen. Frequently it is seen mounted on the cow's loin, pecking the ticks attached to the cattle skin. When the cows rest to the shade of a leafy samán, the Chirigüares walk on the side, the neck and even the head of the animal to eat the ticks that parasitize their skin.

Chirigüares almost always are seen in couples and, according to Eduardo Röhl the zoologist, the bird frequently rolls in the dusty roads of the llanos. Another habit is that of walking behind the plough to hunt the small animals disturbed to the step of the machinery. It feeds of animals killed by cars in the highways, which characterizes it as being opportunistic in his feeding habits. Frequently we have observed its vivaceous, habits therefore we believe that only when he is dead, Zamurito will then be able to eat him!