• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Rufous-headed Chachalaca - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by njlarsen
Buenaventura, SW Ecuador, 5 June 2019
Ortalis erythroptera

Identification

Showing dewlap
Photo © by AWPittman
Southern Ecuador, November 2015

56–66 cm (22-26 in)

  • Brown overall plumage
  • Rufous head and neck
  • Rufous-chestnut primaries and tips to outer rectrices
  • Whitish lower belly
  • Red dewlap
  • Brown iris
  • Blue facial skin

Similar Species

Chestnut-winged Chachalaca

Distribution

South America: found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].

Habitat

Rry, deciduous forests, humid cloud forest, jungles. Occasionally seen on agricultural land. Observed at heights around 800 m.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists almost entirely of fruit, though some birds have been observed eating leaves too.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2019)

Recommended Citation

External Links

Back
Top