West Mexican Chachalaca vs Yungas Guan
Ortalis poliocephala compared with Penelope bridgesi
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | West Mexican Chachalaca | Yungas Guan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ortalis poliocephala | Penelope bridgesi |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Not Evaluated |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) | — |
| Weight | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) | 1770.0 g (62.43 oz) |
| Diet | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in West Mexican scrub and forest edges. Also … | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in Bolivian and Argentine Yungas cloud forests. Diet … |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | -- |
| 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.
Yungas Guan
Produces a loud, resonant honking cackle and wing-whirring display. Calls typical of the Penelope group; recently split from Dusky-legged Guan; found in Bolivian Yungas cloud forest.
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.
Yungas Guan
Resident in the Yungas forests of Bolivia and northwestern Argentina at 1,000-2,500 m. Found in humid subtropical and cloud forest.
Conservation Status
West Mexican Chachalaca
Yungas Guan
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 …
Yungas Guan
Dark olive-brown overall; bare reddish throat wattle; neck and breast streaked whitish; lower belly rufous-chestnut; wings without white patch; legs dusky-grey. Very similar to Dusky-legged Guan.
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.
Yungas Guan
A large cracid (~1.8 kg) of family Cracidae, inhabiting the Yungas humid montane forests of Bolivia and Argentina. Closely related to Dusky-legged Guan and sometimes treated as a subspecies. Arboreal, feeding on fruits and seeds in cloud forest at 500–2,000 m elevation. Not Evaluated independently by IUCN; taxonomy under review, with population status unclear due to limited survey data.