Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) - 19-20Jun2016

When a bird of this caliber shows up as a vagrant in your home state, you just have to chase it.  I believe this was the first photo documented Caracara in NC and it was hanging out at Buxton Lighthouse slowly picking away at a possum carcass and getting mobbed by a local contingent of Grackles. In the ABA area this bird is only regularly found in very southern AZ, TX and Florida.  I have seen a ton of them in Costa Rica.