Black Guan vs Grey-headed Chachalaca
Chamaepetes unicolor compared with Ortalis cinereiceps
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Black Guan | Grey-headed Chachalaca |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Chamaepetes unicolor | Ortalis cinereiceps |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 58.1 cm (22.9 in) | 41.1 cm (16.2 in) |
| Weight | 1135.0 g (40.04 oz) | 566.5 g (19.98 oz) |
| Diet | Eats fruits, berries, leaves, and small invertebrates in Costa Rican and Panamanian montane forests. Forages … | Frugivorous and folivorous; eats fruits, berries, leaves, and buds in Central American forest edges and … |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | 3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Black Guan
Produces a loud, harsh cackling call and wing-whirring. Calls carry through Costa Rican and Panamanian cloud forest; deep cackling notes are lower-pitched than many Penelope guans.
Grey-headed Chachalaca
Produces a loud, raucous cha-cha-lac chorus at dawn; individual notes are hoarser and lower than Plain Chachalaca. Groups call antiphonally from treetops in Central American forest edge.
Geographic Range & Migration
Black Guan
Endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama at 1,600-3,000 m. Found in humid montane forest.
Grey-headed Chachalaca
Resident from Honduras south through Central America to Panama and northwestern Colombia. Found in humid forest and dense vegetation.
Conservation Status
Black Guan
Grey-headed Chachalaca
How to Tell Them Apart
Black Guan
Uniformly glossy black throughout; bare bright blue facial skin around eye; no wattle or white markings; legs dark grey. One of the most uniformly coloured cracids; blue periorbital skin is …
Grey-headed Chachalaca
Olive-brown body; head and neck distinctly grey contrasting with brownish back; bare reddish throat skin; underparts pale buff-grey; tail graduated, brown with paler tips on outer feathers.
About These Birds
Black Guan
A medium-large cracid (~1.1 kg) of family Cracidae, entirely sooty-black with blue facial skin. Endemic to montane cloud forests of Costa Rica and western Panama at 1,200–3,000 m elevation. Arboreal frugivore, feeding on berries and small fruits. Least Concern; restricted range but relatively common within Costa Rican Talamanca highlands and well represented in protected areas.
Grey-headed Chachalaca
A medium-sized cracid (~565 g) of family Cracidae, with a distinctive grey head and olive-brown body. Inhabits humid tropical forests, forest edges, and scrublands from Honduras south to northwestern Colombia. Forages in groups for fruits, berries, leaves, and insects in the understory and canopy. Least Concern; common throughout its range in Central American lowlands.