Rufous-headed Chachalaca
Ortalis erythroptera
The rufous-headed chachalaca is 56 to 66 cm (1.8 to 2.2 ft) long and weighs 620 to 645 g (1.4 to 1.4 lb). It has a rufous head and neck and gray-brown back. The central tail feathers are dark gray and the outer ones gray near the body and chestnut on their outer halves. The lower breast and belly are creamy white. The primary flight feathers are bright chestnut. Its brown eye is surrounded by bare bluish gray skin. The legs are pale blue. Voice: The rufous-headed chachalaca is most vocal from before dawn into the early morning. Its principal call is a "raucous, repeated 'kwak-ar-ar-ar', 'cha-cha-kaw' or shriller 'kra-kra-kra'", and is usually initiated by the male. Pairs give several calls "including a soft cooing or clucking, harsh 'cow', and fast, repeated 'kawuck'."
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Scaled Chachalaca
Ortalis squamata
The scaled chachalaca is about 50 cm (1.6 ft) long. One male weighed about 620 g (1.4 lb) and a female 498 g (1.1 lb). Its plumage is mostly shades of brown, darker on the upperside. The breast is also dark brown with pale feather edges that give a scalloped or scaly effect. The belly is buffy and the vent chestnut. It has a small pinkish throat patch. The bare skin around the dark eye is slate gray. Voice: The scaled chachalaca's song is "a raucous, very noisy but highly variable 'racket', given in duet or chorus from multiple individuals, cacataPOOP, cacataPOP, cacataWHUMP, cacataWEEcata on pitch." It also makes "an irregular but sometimes rhythmic cackling or throaty bubbling, cuhcuh-cuhCAHcuhcuhcucCAH cuhcuhcuhcuh...."
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Rufous-headed Chachalaca and Scaled Chachalaca.