Curassows, guans, chachalacas

Order: Galliformes

Family: Cracidae

44 species

HABITAT AND RANGE:

neotropics;

DESCRIPTION:

75-112 cm; plumage often unpatterned brown or glossy black; bill heavy and like that of chicken; cere, lores, and sometimes throat and wattles bare and colorful; wings short and rounded; tail broad, long, flat; legs strong; feet large with hallux not elevated;

FOOD:

largely arboreal; feed on fruits, leaves;

BREEDING:

sexes usually similar, except in curassows; nest of sticks on tree branch; 2-3 white eggs incubated by female; biparental care or by female only; young fed during 1st half of development.

SOUNDS:

Plain Chachalaca Ortalis vetula calling

Gray-headed Chachalaca Ortalis cinereiceps calling

MORE IMAGES:

RECENT LITERATURE:

Back

(Images taken from Peterson, R. T. and Edward. L. Chalif. A Field Guide to Mexican Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1973)