[4][5] The white-throated caracara is a member of order Falconiformes, which different taxonomic systems assign 65 or 66 species; 10, 11 or 12 genera; and two or three subfamilies.

Their bare facial skin is yellow-orange, their iris is hazel to brown, and their legs and feet yellow.

Juveniles have dark brown upperparts and bluish white facial skin, legs, and feet.

It is found from south-central Chile's Los Lagos Region and western Argentina's Mendoza Province south to Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn.

It is known to feed on carrion, for instance dead guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and cattle, and has also been documented preying on small rodents.

Small numbers gather with vultures at carcasses and with other caracara species at sheep slaughter, and it will attempt to drive off its competitors.

As of early 2023, xeno-canto and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library each had only two recordings of white-throated caracara vocalizations.

Though it has a restricted range and an estimated population of fewer than 6700 mature individuals, the latter is believed to be stable.