Jan 16

Bird of the day

Cauca guan

Penelope perspicax

The Cauca guan (Penelope perspicax) is a bird in the chachalaca, guan and curassow family, Cracidae. It is a large guan, and like most guans leads a mostly arboreal life in humid forests, where it forages for fruit and leaves. The Cauca guan is endemic to Colombia's Cauca River valley.

In Spanish the bird is called pava caucana.

These are large birds, measuring c.75–85 cm in length, with the typical plump body, long tail and small head of the Cracidae species. The head, neck and mantle of the Cauca guan are dark grey, blending into the reddish chestnut colour of the rump, scapulars, wing coverts and upper tail surfaces. The primary flight feathers are greyish-brown. The undersides of the tail feathers are grey. The grey feathers of the mantle, throat, breast and belly are outlined in white, creating a scaled appearance. The bird has a prominent bright red gular sac which is larger than that of the Andean guan, a possible confusion species. The tarsi and feet are red, as are the eyes. The bill is dark grey.

Aliases

Penelope perspicax

Range

Range map of Chestnut-bellied flowerpiercer