Black Guan vs West Mexican Chachalaca
Chamaepetes unicolor compared with Ortalis poliocephala
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Black Guan | West Mexican Chachalaca |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Chamaepetes unicolor | Ortalis poliocephala |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 58.1 cm (22.9 in) | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) |
| Weight | 1135.0 g (40.04 oz) | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) |
| Diet | Eats fruits, berries, leaves, and small invertebrates in Costa Rican and Panamanian montane forests. Forages … | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in West Mexican scrub and forest edges. Also … |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | 2-3 |
| 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.
West Mexican Chachalaca
Emits a loud, raucous chachalaca chorus; individual calls are slightly lower than Plain Chachalaca. Dawn choruses boom across Mexico's Pacific slope thornscrub and tropical dry forest.
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.
West Mexican Chachalaca
Endemic to the Pacific coast of Mexico from Sonora south to Jalisco. Found in tropical dry forest and thorn scrub.
Conservation Status
Black Guan
West Mexican 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 …
West Mexican Chachalaca
Olive-brown above with greyish head; bare reddish throat skin; underparts pale grey with buff-olive flanks; tail long and dark brown with white tips on outer feathers. Overall paler than eastern …
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.
West Mexican Chachalaca
A large chachalaca (~760 g) of family Cracidae, with a grey head and brownish body. Endemic to Mexico, inhabiting tropical dry and semi-deciduous forests of the Pacific coast from Jalisco to Oaxaca. Forages in groups for fruits, leaves, and seeds in forest canopy and understory. Least Concern; well adapted to secondary growth and forest edges throughout its restricted Mexican range.