Bare-faced Curassow vs West Mexican Chachalaca
Crax fasciolata compared with Ortalis poliocephala
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Bare-faced Curassow | West Mexican Chachalaca |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Crax fasciolata | Ortalis poliocephala |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Vulnerable | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 71.0 cm (28.0 in) | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) |
| Weight | 2580.0 g (91.01 oz) | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) |
| Diet | Frugivorous; eats large fallen fruits, seeds, and invertebrates on ground in Brazilian Cerrado, pantanal, and … | 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
Bare-faced Curassow
Produces a deep, resonant booming call; male and female give guttural clucking contact calls. Calls carry through Brazilian Cerrado and gallery forest at dawn.
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
Bare-faced Curassow
Resident in central South America from Brazil south to Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. Found in cerrado, dry forest, and gallery woodland.
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
Bare-faced Curassow
West Mexican Chachalaca
How to Tell Them Apart
Bare-faced Curassow
Male is glossy black with white belly; curly crest; large area of bare yellow facial skin; yellow bill with no knob. Female is black barred with chestnut; extensive bare facial …
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
Bare-faced Curassow
A large cracid (~2.6 kg) of family Cracidae, with bare yellow facial skin around the eye and a yellow-based bill. Inhabits gallery forests, cerrado woodland, and humid tropical forests of the Brazilian interior, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Forages on the forest floor and lower canopy. Vulnerable due to extensive cerrado and gallery forest clearing and hunting pressure.
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.