West Mexican Chachalaca vs Horned Curassow
Ortalis poliocephala compared with Pauxi unicornis
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | West Mexican Chachalaca | Horned Curassow |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ortalis poliocephala | Pauxi unicornis |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Critically Endangered |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) | 81.2 cm (32.0 in) |
| Weight | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) | 3725.0 g (131.40 oz) |
| Diet | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in West Mexican scrub and forest edges. Also … | Frugivorous; eats large seeds, fruits, and invertebrates on the floor of Bolivian and Peruvian montane … |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | 1 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
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.
Horned Curassow
Emits a deep, resonant booming call. The powerful, far-carrying boom is infrequently recorded; Critically Endangered; calls in Bolivian cloud forest are among the rarest cracid sounds.
Geographic Range & Migration
West Mexican Chachalaca
Endemic to the Pacific coast of Mexico from Sonora south to Jalisco. Found in tropical dry forest and thorn scrub.
Horned Curassow
Endemic to the east Andean slopes of Bolivia in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba at 1,000-2,000 m. Found in humid montane forest. Endangered.
Conservation Status
West Mexican Chachalaca
Horned Curassow
How to Tell Them Apart
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 …
Horned Curassow
Glossy black; white lower belly and undertail; a single erect blue-grey conical horn on forehead (smaller than Helmeted Curassow casque); red bill; legs red. Very rare; horn distinguishes from all …
About These Birds
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.
Horned Curassow
A large cracid (~3.7 kg) of family Cracidae, bearing a prominent red casque on the forehead resembling a unicorn horn. Found in humid lowland and foothill forests in Bolivia and possibly Peru. Forages on the forest floor for fallen fruits. Critically Endangered; one of the rarest birds in South America with extremely limited range, severe habitat loss, and hunting pressure.