Nombre en español: Guacharaca del Chocó

Nombre en ingles: Gray-headed Chachalaca

Nombre científico: Ortalis cinereiceps

Familia: Cracidae

Foto: Nick Athanas

Canto: Peter Boesman

La chachalaca cabecigris, guacharaca de cabeza gris, guacharaca chocoana o guacharaca paisana (Ortalis cinereiceps) es una especie de ave galliforme de la familia Cracidae que se encuentra en los matorrales, bosquessecundarios y a la orilla de los ríos, desde el este de Honduras hasta el departamento del Chocó, en el noroeste de Colombia, hasta a 1.100 msnm. No se conocen subespecies.³

Características

Mide entre 46 y 58 cm de longitud y pesa 500 g en promedio. Su cabeza es gris pizarra, con la cara desnuda, y la garganta roja. El plumaje es castaño oliváceo en el dorso, brillante en las alas, muy claro en el vientre, y negruzco verdoso en la cola, que frecuentemente tiene la punta blanca. Puede distinguirse de la guacharaca norteña (Ortalis vetula) porque no tiene tonos rojizos o rufos en las plumas de las alas o partes bajas, y es un poco más pequeña y delgada.⁴

Historia natural

Viven en grupos de 6 a 12 individuos, preferentemente en los arbustos, aunque bajan al suelo. Se alimentan de frutos y semillas. Anidan en ramas, a una altura de entre 1 y 3 m; ponen 3 o 4 huevos, que la hembra incuba durante 22 días.⁵

Grey-headed chachalaca

The grey-headed chachalaca (Ortalis cinereiceps) is a member of an ancient group of birds of the family Cracidae, which are related to the Australasian mound builders. It breeds in lowlands from eastern Honduras to northwestern Colombia (from South Chocóto the upper Atrato) at up to 1,100 m (3,600 ft) altitude.

The grey-headed chachalaca is an arboreal species, found in thickets with emergenttrees. The broad shallow nest is built of twigs and vines 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) up in a tree, often partially screened by vines. The female lays three or four large rough-shelled white eggs and incubates them alone.

These are medium-sized birds, similar in general appearance to turkeys, with small heads, long strong legs and a long broad tail. They are typically 51 cm (20 in) long and weigh 500 g (18 oz). They have fairly dull plumage, dark brown above and paler below. The head is dark grey, and the blackish tail is tipped with pale grey-brown. The primary flight feathers are rufous.

It can be mistaken for the plain chachalaca, O. vetula, which has an isolated population that overlaps in northern Costa Rica, but it is larger, more rufous below, has a white tail tip, and lacks rufous in the wings.

The grey-headed chachalaca is less noisy than plain or rufous-vented chachalacas. It has a peeping white, white, white contact call and a chorus of raucous kraaak sounds, but does not give the chachalaca call of its relatives.

This is a social bird, often seen in family groups of 6–12. It walks along branches seeking the fruit and berries on which it feeds, or flies off with an ani-like flap and glide.