Rufous-headed Chachalaca vs Red-faced Guan
Ortalis erythroptera compared with Penelope dabbenei
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Rufous-headed Chachalaca | Red-faced Guan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ortalis erythroptera | Penelope dabbenei |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Vulnerable | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 43.8 cm (17.2 in) | 56.7 cm (22.3 in) |
| Weight | 632.5 g (22.31 oz) | 1230.0 g (43.39 oz) |
| Diet | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in Pacific slope forests and forest edges of … | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in Andean foothills forests of Bolivia and northwestern … |
| Clutch Size | 3 | 3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Rufous-headed Chachalaca
Emits a loud, raucous chachalaca chorus; individual calls are slightly higher than Rufous-vented. Dawn choruses carry across Ecuadorian and Peruvian coastal dry forest.
Red-faced Guan
Produces a loud, resonant honking cackle and wing-whirring display. Calls carry through Bolivian and Argentinian Yungas cloud forest; wing-whirring is a diagnostic display.
Geographic Range & Migration
Rufous-headed Chachalaca
Resident in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. Found in tropical deciduous forest and scrub in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena region.
Red-faced Guan
Resident in the foothills and mountains of northwestern Argentina and adjacent Bolivia at 500-1,800 m. Found in humid Yungas forest.
Conservation Status
Rufous-headed Chachalaca
Red-faced Guan
How to Tell Them Apart
Rufous-headed Chachalaca
Brownish-olive body; head and upper neck warm rufous-cinnamon, distinctly contrasting with greyish-brown back; bare reddish throat wattle; underparts pale buff; tail dark with pale outer tips.
Red-faced Guan
Dark brownish-olive; extensive bare bright red facial skin from lores to ear-coverts (larger than other guans); throat red-wattled; breast finely streaked white; lower belly rufous; tail dark.
About These Birds
Rufous-headed Chachalaca
A medium-sized cracid (~630 g) of family Cracidae, with a striking rufous head. Inhabits humid and deciduous forests, forest edges, and scrub in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. Feeds on fruits and leaves in the forest understory and canopy. Vulnerable due to extensive deforestation in the Tumbesian region, one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots.
Red-faced Guan
A large cracid (~1.2 kg) of family Cracidae, with distinctive red bare facial skin. Inhabits montane humid forests of the eastern Andes in Bolivia and northwestern Argentina at 900–2,500 m elevation. Arboreal, foraging for fruits, seeds, and buds in the forest canopy. Least Concern; relatively restricted range in the Yungas forest zone but not considered under immediate threat.