Black-fronted Piping-Guan
Pipile jacutinga
Rare, threatened, and spectacularly-plumaged black-and-white guan with a long black tail. Head is striking with bold white eyering and shaggy white cap contrasting with its red and blue wattle, its blue, black-tipped bill, and its black face. Usually seen in the canopy of large and well-preserved patches of montane and lowland Atlantic Forest. The song is a high-pitched rising whistle, but also often makes distinctive wing-whirrs like other guans.
Identification
The black-fronted piping guan is 63.5 to 74 cm (2.08 to 2.43 ft) long and weighs 1,100 to 1,400 g (2.4 to 3.1 lb). It is similar in general appearance to a slim turkey, with a thin neck and small head. It is mainly black with a bluish gloss and a conspicuous white wing patch bearing rows of black dots. It has a large white crest and a red throat wattle with a dark blue patch at the front. Its ring of bare white skin around the dark eye and black-feathered face and forehead are unique in its genus. The legs and feet are red.
Taxonomy
The taxonomies of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, and Handbook of the Birds of the World treat the black-fronted piping guan as one of four species in genus Pipile. Though also agreeing with this treatment, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society notes that "evidence for species rank for the four species of Pipile is weak". Various authors have proposed instead that the genus contains one, two, or three species, or that it should be subsumed entirely into genus Aburria with the wattled guan (A. aburri).<p>As currently accepted, the black-fronted piping guan is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Pipile jacutinga
- Authority
- (Spix, 1825)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Cracidae
- Genus
- Pipile
Range and habitat
Though it was formerly more widespread, the black-fronted piping guan is now found spottily in two general areas. It ranges near the Brazilian coast roughly from Paraná state north to Rio de Janeiro and also in Argentina's far northeastern Misiones Province and adjacent eastern Paraguay. It is the only piping guan in this range though formerly it overlapped a small amount with blue-throated piping guan (P. cumanensis) in Paraguay. It inhabits several types of Atlantic Forest including evergreen, gallery, and coastal. It is almost always found in mature primary forest though also in older secondary forest and restinga. In elevation it formerly ranged from sea level as high as 1,850 m (6,070 ft) but now is usually found only below 1,000 m (3,300 ft)
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Some altitudinal and seasonal movements by the black-fronted piping guan have been documented, though the reasons for them are not clear.<p>The black-fronted piping guan forages alone, in pairs, or in groups as large as 11, usually in trees but sometimes on the ground. Its diet is primarily fruit, and studies in Brazil have documented 41 species eaten there. It will occasionally eat seeds, buds, insects, and molluscs. It tends to remain in an area of fruiting trees until they are bare.<p>The black-fronted piping guan's breeding season appears to span at least August to December based on the dates of observations of displays, eggs, and nestlings. Their nest is a platform made of twigs and stems placed in the fork of a tree. The clutch size is two to four eggs. Almost all incubation is by the female but both sexes provision young.<p>The black-fronted piping guan's primary vocalization is a "series of thin, rising whistles similar to those of congenerics". Its alarm call is also similar to that of other Pipile but with a more metallic tone. A dusk and dawn wing-whirring display has "two silent wingbeats, a long dry rattle, two more quick wingbeats and finally an even longer rattle".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Cutia nipalensis
A beautiful, stocky inhabitant of high-elevation broadleaf and mixed forests. Looks like a babbler, but much more closely related to laughingthrushes. Male has a black mask, blue-gray crown, white throat, barred sides, and bright rufous back. Female is paler, with a brown face and a more yellowish back lined with black streaks. Forages at middle and upper levels, often in small groups, picking invertebrates from leaf clusters, ferns and orchids, and mossy crevices of trunks and branches. Listen for its loud song, an extended series of high-pitched, piercing “chee!” notes.
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A medium-sized bird of lowland and foothill forest on Mindanao and neighboring islands, with a pale blue bill and eye wattle, a black face, a streaked crown, a dark back with a white-and-yellow wingbar, a white collar, and a reddish rump and tail. Underparts are white in the female and pinkish in the male. Makes short sallies from a perched position to catch insects. Can be found in pairs, small groups, or sometimes mixed-species flocks. Unmistakable. Voice includes a plaintive whistle and a metallic “chink,” plus wing noise and bill clicks.
Puerto Rican Euphonia
Chlorophonia sclateri
Endemic to Puerto Rico. A brilliantly colored, tiny, and active species of dense woodlands where it feeds at middle to upper levels, primarily on mistletoe berries. Sometimes joins mixed flocks. Easy to miss despite bright colors and flitting movements. Note small size, short tail, and small (though rather thick) bill. Male has a blue helmet, yellow underparts (including the throat), and a dark mask. Female is olive-green overall; note distinctive blue helmet and small yellowish forehead patch. Calls include a lively “beep” given singly or in series, a rapid “whip-ip,” a rough “djip,” and a plaintive “wheee.” Song is a rapid jumble of tinkling, squeaky, and whistled notes.
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