Photo © by Stanley Jones
Villa Carmen Lodge, Pilicopata, Cusco Department, Peru, September 2018
- Ortalis guttata
Identification
49–55 cm Brown upperside and neck, throat, and upper breast, while underside is paler in most subspecies. All forms have white fringes to dark feathers producing a scaled effect. Tail has outer feather rufous. Legs and feet red (dark in East Brazilian Chachalaca). A red throat skin fold is sometimes visible.
Distribution
Found in eastern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil.
Taxonomy
Colombian Chachalaca, Scaled Chachalaca and East Brazilian Chachalaca have been treated as subspecies of Speckled Chachalaca in the past. All forms have also been treated as subspecies of Variable Chachalaca.
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized[1]:
- O. g. guttata:
- O. g. subaffinis:
- O. g. remota[6]:
- South-eastern Brazil (eastern Mato Grosso do Sul and northern São Paulo)
Habitat
Low forests and forest borders, palm groves, gardens. Mostly lower elevation, but observed at 1700 meters on the east slope of the West Andes.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet consists of fruit, particularly bananas and catkins of guarumo trees. Readily visits feeders.
Vocalisation
Vocalizations are variations of Chachala or Chachalaca.
References
- 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/
- Avibase
- BF Member observations
- SACC baseline read July 2010
- SACC proposal to split Colombian Chachalaca
- Birdforum thread about the taxonomy of Chachalacas
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Speckled Chachalaca. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Speckled_Chachalaca
