Black Guan
Chamaepetes unicolor
Large chickenlike bird found in montane forests. Entirely black plumage with blue facial skin, red eye, and reddish legs. Sexes similar. Unlikely to be confused: smaller and blacker than Crested Guan; lacks curled head feathers of Great Curassow; also found at higher elevations. Can be seen on the ground or in trees, usually in pairs or small family groups. Feeds on fruit.
Identification
The black guan is 62 to 69 cm (2.03 to 2.26 ft) long and weighs about 1,135 g (2.502 lb). Adults have all black plumage with contrasting bright blue facial skin around a red eye. Their legs and feet are pinkish-red. Juveniles are similar but less glossy and their underparts browner and their facial skin is blackish or dark brown.
Taxonomy
The black guan shares the genus Chamaepetes with the sickle-winged guan (C. goudotii) of western South America and may form a superspecies with it.
- Scientific name
- Chamaepetes unicolor
- Authority
- Salvin, 1867
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Cracidae
- Genus
- Chamaepetes
Range and habitat
The black guan is found from the Cordillera de Guanacaste in northern Costa Rica to western Coclé Province in Panama. It inhabits cloudforest in the Talamancan montane forest ecozone. It prefers steep terrain in the temperate, subtropical, and tropical zones, usually between about 1,000 and 2,250 m (3,280 and 7,380 ft) of elevation, but in some areas as low as 800 m (2,600 ft) and in others as high as 3,000 m (9,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The black guan is thought to be mainly sedentary but there is some evidence of seasonal elevation changes.<p>The black guan forages singly, in pairs, or in small groups. Its primary diet is fruits; studies in Costa Rica have identified at least 35 different species eaten. It mostly feeds in trees but will also eat fallen fruit on the ground.<p>The black guan's breeding season is believed to span from February to June. The one described nest was a small platform of twigs and leaves placed in a clump of epiphytes in a tree 4.5 m (15 ft) above the ground. The clutch size is two or three eggs.<p>The black guan's vocalizations include piping calls in the breeding season, a "a low, deep 'ro-rooo' or coughing 'kowr' if disturbed", and a "tsik tsik..." alarm call. At dawn and dusk it gives a "loud, sharp, crackling" wing-rattling display.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yellow-browed Melidectes
Melidectes rufocrissalis
A fairly large honeyeater of mid-montane forest in eastern New Guinea. Body gray with white scaling on the back, olive wing feathers and buffy under the base of the tail. Pale green eye-ring and bare facial skin behind the eye with yellow lines above and behind. Similar to Belford’s Melidectes which it hybridizes with, but Yellow-browned has a pale bill and red wattles on the throat. Calls, loud parrotlike screeches similar to those of Belford’s Melidectes.
Sardinian Warbler
Curruca melanocephala
Compact, robust, and big-headed warbler. Males are striking with a black hood contrasting with whitish throat, gray back, and red eyering. Females duller with a gray hood, white throat, and buff body. Common in many typical Mediterranean habitats including tall bushes, open woodlands, gardens, coastal scrub, and plantations; also in oases, acacia woodlands, and scrubby desert in non-breeding range. Usually first detected by its song, a fast, angry-sounding rattling "ctret-tret-tret-tret-tret" or "tetwtweer-tik-tik-tik" with whispering in between. The call is a dry "tseck."
Brown Trembler
Cinclocerthia ruficauda
A bright-eyed, hefty billed bird of forests and scrublands. Tends to hold its tail cocked up and wings drooped, especially when feeding. Typically appears almost entirely warm brown; dark above and paler below with some gray on head. Gray Trembler lacks the brown hues of Brown Trembler and has some degree of white below. White-breasted Thrasher has largely bright white underparts and a dark red eye (not yellow as in Brown Trembler). Song is a slow jumble of rich whistles and high-pitched sibilant notes. Calls include scattered whistles and harsh scolding notes.
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