West Mexican Chachalaca vs Dusky-legged Guan
Ortalis poliocephala compared with Penelope obscura
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | West Mexican Chachalaca | Dusky-legged Guan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ortalis poliocephala | Penelope obscura |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) | 61.9 cm (24.4 in) |
| Weight | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) | 1530.0 g (53.97 oz) |
| Diet | Frugivorous; eats fruits, berries, seeds, and leaves in West Mexican scrub and forest edges. Also … | Eats fruits, berries, seeds, leaves, and flowers in South American Atlantic forest and Araucaria forest. … |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | 2-4 |
| 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.
Dusky-legged Guan
Emits a loud, resonant honking cackle and strong wing-whirring display. The deep, carrying call echoes through southern South American subtropical and humid 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.
Dusky-legged Guan
Resident in southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. Found in Atlantic Forest and gallery woodland.
Conservation Status
West Mexican Chachalaca
Dusky-legged 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 …
Dusky-legged Guan
Dark brownish-olive above; dark grey legs; bare red throat wattle; neck and breast streaked pale; lower underparts rufous-chestnut; tail dark. Dusky legs distinguish it from similar Spix's 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.
Dusky-legged Guan
A large cracid (~1.5 kg) of family Cracidae, with dark legs, olive-brown plumage, and a red wattle. Found in Atlantic Forest and subtropical forests of southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay. Arboreal frugivore. Least Concern; one of the most common guans in southeastern South America and increasingly tolerant of forest fragments.