Over the last few years I have been contacted by several readers who saw a large bird here in Southeast Texas that looked “sort of” like a bald eagle but was different. On every occasion the bird turned out to be the caracara, pictured here. Reader Greg Jackson captured this photo of a beautiful specimen near the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.

Until probably 10 years ago they were relegated mainly to south of Houston but now they are a fairly common site around Anahuac, Winnie and the outskirts of Beaumont. I even saw one in Orange County last year.

These birds scavenge and are occasionally found eating roadkill, an act not exactly befitting their rugged beauty but nonetheless important in nature.

(To submit photos to the Critter Cam project, email them to chester@kingdomzoo.com. Put “Critter Cam” in the subject line.)