West Mexican Chachalaca vs Blue-throated Piping-guan
Ortalis poliocephala compared with Pipile cumanensis
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | West Mexican Chachalaca | Blue-throated Piping-guan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ortalis poliocephala | Pipile cumanensis |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) | 66.9 cm (26.3 in) |
| Weight | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) | 1228.0 g (43.32 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 Amazonian and Orinoco basin forests. Forages in … |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | 1-3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Shared Habitats
West Mexican Chachalaca only
None
Blue-throated Piping-guan only
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.
Blue-throated Piping-guan
Emits loud, resonant piping calls and wing-whirring displays. The ringing, piping calls carry through Amazonian lowland forest; wing-whirr is powerful and audible from a distance.
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.
Blue-throated Piping-guan
Resident in the Amazon Basin from Venezuela and Colombia south to Bolivia and Brazil. Found in lowland and foothill rainforest near rivers.
Conservation Status
West Mexican Chachalaca
Blue-throated Piping-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 …
Blue-throated Piping-guan
Glossy black; large white wing patch; bare bright blue throat skin and wattle; white forehead and crest; white flecking on neck and mantle. Blue throat skin distinguishes from White-throated Piping-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.
Blue-throated Piping-guan
A large cracid (~1.2 kg) of family Cracidae, with white wing markings and a bright blue throat wattle. Inhabits humid lowland and foothill forests across northern South America, from Colombia and Venezuela south through Amazonia to Bolivia. Arboreal, feeding on fruits and seeds. Least Concern; widespread in Amazonian forests with relatively stable populations in undisturbed areas.