West Mexican Chachalaca vs Trinidad Piping-guan
Ortalis poliocephala compared with Pipile pipile
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | West Mexican Chachalaca | Trinidad Piping-guan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ortalis poliocephala | Pipile pipile |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Cracidae | Cracidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Critically Endangered |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 52.0 cm (20.5 in) | 66.2 cm (26.1 in) |
| Weight | 760.0 g (26.81 oz) | 2150.0 g (75.84 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 Trinidadian forests. Critically endangered; forages in canopy. |
| Clutch Size | 2-3 | 2 |
| 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.
Trinidad Piping-guan
Produces loud, resonant piping calls and strong wing-whirring displays. Critically endangered; calls carry through remnant Trinidad rainforest; the loudest vocalizations of any Pipile piping-guan.
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.
Trinidad Piping-guan
Endemic to the island of Trinidad (not Tobago). Found in lowland rainforest remnants. Critically endangered.
Conservation Status
West Mexican Chachalaca
Trinidad 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 …
Trinidad Piping-guan
Glossy black overall; large white wing patches; bare blue facial skin and pendulous blue-and-white wattle; white crest; white streaking on neck. Spectacular ornamental facial features.
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.
Trinidad Piping-guan
A large cracid (~2.2 kg) of family Cracidae, with bold white wing patches and a blue-and-white facial wattle. Endemic to the island of Trinidad; the only Pipile species in the Caribbean. Inhabits primary and mature secondary rainforest. Feeds on fruits and seeds in the canopy. Critically Endangered; one of the world's rarest birds, with fewer than 200 individuals surviving.