Red-billed Curassow vs West Mexican Chachalaca
Crax blumenbachii compared with Ortalis poliocephala
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Red-billed Curassow | West Mexican Chachalaca |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Crax blumenbachii | Ortalis poliocephala |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Endangered | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 76.8 cm (30.2 in) | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) |
| Weight | 3250.0 g (114.64 oz) | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) |
| Diet | Eats large fruits, seeds, and invertebrates on Atlantic forest floor in Brazil. Critically endangered; diet … | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in West Mexican scrub and forest edges. Also … |
| Clutch Size | 1-3 | 2-3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Red-billed Curassow
Emits a deep, resonant booming call; contact calls are loud, guttural clucking. Endangered; the powerful boom echoes through remnant Atlantic forest; increasingly scarce.
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
Red-billed Curassow
Endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. Found in lowland humid forest. Critically endangered.
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
Red-billed Curassow
West Mexican Chachalaca
How to Tell Them Apart
Red-billed Curassow
Male is glossy black with white lower belly; curly black crest; vivid red bill with no knob; no yellow facial skin. Female is black barred chestnut; bright red bill 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
Red-billed Curassow
A large cracid (~3.3 kg) of family Cracidae, males black with a red and yellow bill. Endemic to a small area of Atlantic Forest in Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais, Brazil. Inhabits humid lowland and foothill rainforest. Forages on the forest floor for fallen fruits and seeds. Endangered; fewer than 250 mature individuals remain following severe Atlantic Forest loss and overhunting.
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.