Southern Screamer
Chauna torquata
Huge and odd-looking gray gooselike species with long red legs. Note the wispy crest on the back of the head, the bare red face, and a broad dark collar with a thin white collar above it. In flight shows white underwings. Occurs in wetlands, including marshes and lakes where it may gather in big flocks. Has a very loud and far-carrying call, usually delivered in a duet.
Identification
The southern screamer is one of the largest birds of southern South America at 83 to 90 cm (33 to 35 in) long and weighing about 4.4 kg (9.7 lb). Their flat wing measures 50 to 57 cm (20 to 22 in), their tail 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10.2 in), and their culmen 4.0 to 5.4 cm (1.6 to 2.1 in). They are stout bodied with a disproportionately small head and a "chicken-like" grayish brown bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Their head and upperparts are gray with a velvety black "collar" around the base of the neck. Their wings and tail are dusky and the wing has two sharp spurs at its manus. The front of their neck, their breast, and their sides are pale gray faintly mottled and streaked with white. Their belly is unmarked pale gray or white. Their legs and feet are rosy.
Taxonomy
The southern screamer shares genus Chauna with the northern screamer (C. chavaria). One other species, the horned screamer (Anhima cornuta) is also in family Anhimidae. The southern screamer is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Chauna torquata
- Authority
- (Oken, 1816)
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anhimidae
- Genus
- Chauna
Range and habitat
The southern screamer is found from the eastern half of Bolivia south into Argentina as far as Buenos Aires Province and east through Paraguay into southwestern Brazil and Uruguay. It has also been documented as a vagrant in southeastern Peru. It inhabits tropical and subtropical wetlands including lakes, marshes, and flooded meadows with scattered trees.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yungas Tyrannulet
Phyllomyias weedeni
Small flycatcher found along the east slope of the Andes in western Bolivia, barely reaching over the border into southern Peru. Note the stubby bill, indistinct wingbars, and white eyebrow bordered below by a dark eye-line. Similar to Sclater’s Tyrannulet, but lacks a white throat and has less prominent wingbars. Inhabits the canopy of humid forest, and typical song is a series of three to five descending, whiny whistles. Note that some vocally distinct birds found farther north in Peru as well in western Brazil may belong to this species, but pending further research, could also be a form of Sooty-headed Tyrannulet or something completely new.
Southern Scrub-Robin
Drymodes brunneopygia
Long-legged songbird found in semi-arid parts of southern Australia. Grayish above, paler gray below, with faint wingbars and long tail, often flicked upward. Very subtle dark mark through the eye and cheek. Usually seen running around on the ground in open woodland, although male also sings from higher perches. Main call is a repeated three-note rising whistle, "chip-dee-deee," but also makes rough, buzzy alarm calls.
Rufous-booted Racket-tail
Ocreatus addae
Tiny cloud forest hummingbird found in the eastern Andes from central Peru to Bolivia. Male’s distinctive tail feathers cross each other and splay out in a V shape. Female can be identified by her small size, buffy thighs and vent, spotted underparts, and white whisker. May overlap with Peruvian Racket-tail in central Peru; male Rufous-booted has a twisted (not straight) tail. Females of the two species look almost identical. Typically feeds at small flowers at forest edge or in clearings, and sometimes visits feeders.
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