Wattled Guan vs White-bellied Chachalaca
Aburria aburri compared with Ortalis leucogastra
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Wattled Guan | White-bellied Chachalaca |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Aburria aburri | Ortalis leucogastra |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 67.4 cm (26.5 in) | 41.7 cm (16.4 in) |
| Weight | 1398.3333333333333 g (49.32 oz) | 499.5 g (17.62 oz) |
| Diet | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, and leaves in Andean cloud forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and … | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in Central American forest edges and scrubby second-growth … |
| Clutch Size | -- | 2-3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Wattled Guan
Emits a loud, resonant, booming honk and wing-whirring display. The deep, carrying boom echoes through Andean cloud forest; wing-whirring display is powerful and conspicuous.
White-bellied Chachalaca
Emits a loud, raucous chachalaca chorus; individual call is slightly higher and thinner. Dawn choruses ring across Central American Pacific slope forest and scrub.
Geographic Range & Migration
Wattled Guan
Resident in the Andes from Venezuela and Colombia south to Bolivia at 500-2,200 m. Found in humid montane forest.
White-bellied Chachalaca
Resident in Central America from Mexico south to Nicaragua. Found in tropical dry and humid forests and forest edges.
Conservation Status
Wattled Guan
White-bellied Chachalaca
How to Tell Them Apart
Wattled Guan
Uniformly glossy greenish-black; prominent pendulous yellow-and-blue bare throat wattle; no white wing patches or streaking; legs dark grey. Striking yellow wattle is the sole bold adornment.
White-bellied Chachalaca
Olive-brown upperparts; grey head with bare reddish throat; underparts strikingly white-bellied, contrasting sharply with brownish sides; tail dark with white tips on outer feathers.
About These Birds
Wattled Guan
A large cracid (~1.4 kg) of family Cracidae, all-black with a distinctive yellow and blue wattle hanging from the throat. Inhabits montane cloud forests of the Andes from Venezuela and Colombia south to Peru, at 500–2,500 m elevation. Arboreal, feeding on fruits and seeds. Least Concern; inhabits remote Andean cloud forests where it remains relatively undisturbed.
White-bellied Chachalaca
A medium-sized cracid (~500 g) of family Cracidae, distinguished by pale whitish underparts. Found in Pacific lowland forests, scrub, and forest edges from southern Mexico to northwestern Costa Rica. Forages in noisy flocks on fruits, buds, and seeds in the forest canopy and edges. Least Concern; thrives in disturbed habitats and secondary growth across its Central American range.