Red-faced Guan
Penelope dabbenei
Mostly arboreal guan endemic to the semi-humid forest with Podocarpus and alders of the mid-elevation east Andes in southern Bolivia and northeast Argentina. Often in ravines and river basins. The sympatric Dusky-legged Guan is more common, but shows grayish-blue skin around the eye. Tends to perch high in trees, singly or in pairs, and often found by far-carrying vocalizations given from high in trees. Note pale supercilium, dull pinkish legs, exposed red orbital skin and wattle.
Identification
The red-faced guan is 63 to 69 cm (2.1 to 2.3 ft) long. One female weighed 1,230 g (2.7 lb). It is rich brown overall with white or silvery flecking on the head, breast, and upper back. It has an obvious whitish supercilium, bare pinkish red facial skin, and the red dewlap that is typical of its genus.
Taxonomy
At least one author has suggested that the red-faced guan should be treated as a subspecies of the Andean guan (Penelope montagnii) and others have suggested a close relationship between it and the dusky-legged guan (P. obscura) but later work refuted both treatments. The red-faced guan is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Penelope dabbenei
- Authority
- Hellmayr & Conover, 1942
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Cracidae
- Genus
- Penelope
Range and habitat
The red-faced guan is found in a narrow band on the east side of the Andes of southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. It inhabits the cloudforest of the Yungas region and prefers extensive tracts of large trees. It does occasionally occur in smaller patches or in young secondary forest. In elevation it mainly ranges between 1,800 and 2,500 m (5,900 and 8,200 ft) but sometimes as low as 1,300 m (4,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The red-faced guan is thought to be largely sedentary, but some altitudinal movement has been reported in Argentina.<p>The red-faced guan usually forages in pairs but larger groups have been reported. It mostly forages in trees but also feeds on the ground. Its diet is mostly fruits and it also eats leaves and arthropods.<p>The red-faced guan's breeding season has not been fully defined, but displaying and calling pairs have been documented between September and December. It builds a platform nest of twigs and stems lined with leaves and sited in a tree. The clutch size is three eggs.<p>The red-faced guan makes a wing-whirring display at dawn. Its song is "random-sounding gruff notes, given in level series". Its alarm call is "a loud, throaty and repeated 'kroa, kroa...' interspersed by whistled notes 'luuuii'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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