Grey-headed Chachalaca
Encyclopedia
The Grey-headed Chachalaca, Ortalis cinereiceps, is a member of an ancient group of birds of the Cracidae
family, which are related to the Australasia
n mound builders. It breeds in lowlands from eastern Honduras
to northwestern Colombia
(from South Chocó to the upper Atrato
) at up to 1100 m altitude.
The Grey-headed Chachalaca is an arboreal species, found in thickets with emergent trees. The broad shallow nest is built of twigs and vines 1-3 m up in a tree, often partially screened by vines. The female lays three or four large rough-shelled white eggs
and incubates them alone.
These are medium-sized birds, similar in general appearance to turkeys
, with small heads, long strong legs and a long broad tail. They are typically 51cm long and weigh 500 g. They have fairly dull plumage
, dark brown above and paler below. The head is dark grey, and the blackish tail is tipped with pale grey-brown. The primary flight feathers are rufous.
The Plain Chachalaca
, O. vetula, has an isolated population in northern Costa Rica
, but is larger, more rufous below, has a white tail tip, and lacks rufous in the wings.
The Grey-headed Chachalaca is less noisy than Plain or Rufous-vented Chachalaca
s. It has a peeping white, white, white contact call and a chorus of raucous kraaak sounds, but does not give the chachalaca call of its relatives.
This is a social bird, often seen in family groups of 6-12. It walks along branches seeking the fruit
and berries
on which it feeds, or flies off with an ani-like
flap and glide.
Cracidae
The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae.These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. One species, the Plain Chachalaca, just reaches southernmost Texas in the USA...
family, which are related to the Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
n mound builders. It breeds in lowlands from eastern Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
to northwestern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
(from South Chocó to the upper Atrato
Atrato River
The Río Atrato is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá , where it forms a large, swampy delta....
) at up to 1100 m altitude.
The Grey-headed Chachalaca is an arboreal species, found in thickets with emergent trees. The broad shallow nest is built of twigs and vines 1-3 m up in a tree, often partially screened by vines. The female lays three or four large rough-shelled white eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
and incubates them alone.
These are medium-sized birds, similar in general appearance to turkeys
Turkey (bird)
A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species...
, with small heads, long strong legs and a long broad tail. They are typically 51cm long and weigh 500 g. They have fairly dull plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
, dark brown above and paler below. The head is dark grey, and the blackish tail is tipped with pale grey-brown. The primary flight feathers are rufous.
The Plain Chachalaca
Plain Chachalaca
The Plain Chachalaca, Ortalis vetula, is a large bird in the Cracidae family. It breeds in tropical and subtropical environments from mezquital thickets in the Rio Grande Valley in southernmost Texas, United States to northernmost Costa Rica....
, O. vetula, has an isolated population in northern Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, but is larger, more rufous below, has a white tail tip, and lacks rufous in the wings.
The Grey-headed Chachalaca is less noisy than Plain or Rufous-vented Chachalaca
Rufous-vented Chachalaca
The Rufous-vented Chachalaca, Ortalis ruficauda, is a member of an ancient group of birds of the Cracidae family, which are related to the Australasian mound builders. It inhabits northeast Colombia and northern Venezuela where it is called Guacharaca, and in Tobago where it is known as the Cocrico...
s. It has a peeping white, white, white contact call and a chorus of raucous kraaak sounds, but does not give the chachalaca call of its relatives.
This is a social bird, often seen in family groups of 6-12. It walks along branches seeking the fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
and berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
on which it feeds, or flies off with an ani-like
Ani (bird)
The anis are the three species of near-passerine birds in the genus Crotophaga of the cuckoo family. They are essentially tropical New world birds, although the range of two species just reaches the United States...
flap and glide.