Variable Chachalaca
Ortalis motmot
Slender, long-tailed, chickenlike bird that is often seen in small groups. Grayish-brown overall with a warmer chestnut head. At close range note the bare red throat patch and pinkish legs. Found in second-growth woodlands, river edges, and disturbed habitats including farms and villages. Occurs in lowlands of northern South America, north of the Amazon river. Somewhat similar to Spix’s and Marail Guans, but Variable Chachalaca is much smaller and is unlikely to be in canopy of tall forest. Usually quiet, but groups call loudly to each other early in the morning; unmistakable call can be heard for more than a kilometer.
识别特征
The little chachalaca is 43 to 54 cm (1.4 to 1.8 ft) long and weighs 345 to 620 g (0.76 to 1.4 lb). Its head is reddish chestnut, its upperparts reddish brown to gray-brown, and its underparts gray. Its central tail feathers are gray-brown and the outer ones rusty. Its primary flight feathers are dark brown. Its facial skin is dark slate gray.
分类信息
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the little chachalaca in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in French Guiana. He used the French name Le faisan de la Guiane and the Latin Phasianus guianensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the little chachalaca. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Phasianus motmot and cited Brisson's work. The specific name had been used by the Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba in 1734 when he had misapplied the Aztec name motmot to a chachalaca. The species is now placed in the genus Ortalis that was introduced by the German naturalist Blasius Merrem in 1786 with the little chachalaca as the type species.<p>The little chachalaca was previously considered conspecific with the speckled chachalaca (Ortalis guttata) and buff-browed chachalaca (O. superciliaris). What is now the chestnut-headed chachalaca (O. ruficeps) was previously a subspecies of what was then called variable chachalaca. (Confusingly, after the split the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) renamed O. motmot "little chachalaca" but the American Ornithological Society (AOS) and the Clements taxonomy retained the name "variable" for it.) As currently understood, the little chachalaca is monotypic.
- 学名
- Ortalis motmot
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- 目
- Galliformes
- 科
- Cracidae
- 属
- Ortalis
分布与栖息地
The little chachalaca is found from southern and eastern Venezuela east through the Guianas into northern Brazil and south to the Amazon River east of the rio Negro. The AOS considers it hypothetical in Colombia. It inhabits landscapes such as the undergrowth along rivers, in clearings, and abandoned pastures; dense secondary forest; and coastal brush. It shuns the interior of dense forest. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,700 m (5,600 ft).
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
The little chachalaca forages in trees or on the ground, usually in pairs or small flocks. Its primary diet is berries and fruits although it also eats flowers and leaves.<p>The little chachalaca has been recorded laying eggs in May, September, and December in the Guianas; there are no data from elsewhere. It builds a small cup nest of roots, leaves, and sticks and places it fairly low in a shrub or tree. The clutch size is three eggs.<p>The little chachalaca's song is "a loud, rollicking duet, a repeated 'WATCH-a-lak', which is mainly given at dawn and dusk".
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Comoro Blue-Pigeon
Alectroenas sganzini
Medium-sized chunky pigeon that is dark blue with a pale gray hood. Appears short-tailed in flight. Found in rainforest, secondary habitat, and plantations, and locally in dry coastal scrub. Most common at higher elevations in most of its range. Most often seen perched up conspicuously on emergent trees, feeding on fruiting trees, or in flight in small flocks. The common vocalization is a quick series of low hoots or growls. Dark blue coloration and pale head separate it from all other pigeons in its range.
Seychelles Kestrel
Falco araeus
Unusually small kestrel with a gray head, a rufous back, unmarked buff underparts, a barred tail, and a dark “moustache” mark on the face. Found on several of the granitic Seychelles Islands. Originally found in areas of rainforest with cliffs and other rocky areas; now found in secondary scrub, cultivated areas, plantations, and towns, as well as in remnant natural habitat. Unlike other kestrels, does not hover. Call is a high, repeated “krii.” Shares general falcon shape with migrant and vagrant falcons, including Eleanora’s and Sooty Falcons, but smaller, with shorter, less pointed wings.
Gray Gerygone
Gerygone igata
A small, slim endemic warbler common throughout New Zealand. Gray-brown above and paler gray to off-white below. Tail is darker, tipped with white, most noticeable in flight. Adults have a distinctive red eye. Juvenile similar, with yellow coloration and brown eyes. Male has a distinctive long, bubbling musical song. Female gives short “chirp” contact calls. More often heard than seen, this species forages for insects in the forest understory or scrub, sometimes hovering among the outer foliage and twigs. On mainland New Zealand, this is the only host species of the nest parasite Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, and so Gray Gerygone parents can be encountered feeding much larger cuckoo chicks. Despite inhabiting the same areas, distinguishable from Silvereye by slightly larger size, greener upperparts, and lack of a white eye-ring.
开始您的观鸟之旅
在户外识别鸟类，并在下一次观察时随手查阅鸟类图鉴。