deep brown, russet, or gray, often with heavy black
barring. Some tinamous inhabit savannas, pampas, and
mountainsides, but most live secretive lives on the rain
forest floor, searching for fallen fruits, seeds, and an
occasional arthropod. Forest tinamous are much more
often heard than seen, and many are amazing vocalists.
One of the most moving sounds of the rain forest is the
clear, ascending, flutelike whistle of the Great Tinamou
(Tinamus major; plate 15- 3), a haunting sound given
at dusk that heralds the end of the tropical day. One
bird begins and soon others join in chorus. Evening
twilight is the hour of the Great Tinamou serenade—
it rarely sings during full daylight or dawn. As these
birds are basically solitary, the function of the tinamou
chorus may be to signal one another as to their various
whereabouts.
The best way to see a tinamou is to quietly walk a
forest trail, especially in the early morning hours. You
may suddenly come upon one foraging along the trail,
and it will probably stare blankly at you for a moment
before scurrying into the undergrowth. Tinamous are
generally reluctant to fly but may abruptly flush in a
burst of wings, landing but a short distance away. They
cannot sustain flight for long distances, because their
flight muscles, even though well developed, are not
well vascularized, and the limited blood flow greatly
restricts their effectiveness.
Though tinamous superficially resemble chickens,
tinamou anatomy and DNA analysis show that they
are closely related to ostriches, rheas, and other large
flightless birds. Their rounded eggs are unusual for
their highly glossed shells and range of colors, from
turquoise blue and green, to purple, deep red, slate
gray, or brown. Only the male incubates the eggs,
another characteristic shared with ostriches and rheas.
“Tropical Chickens”: Chachalacas, Guans,
Curassows, and Quail
The 56 species of chachalacas, guans, and curassows are
similar in appearance to chickens and turkeys, and are in
the same order, Galliformes, but are in their own family,
Cracidae. They are found in dense jungle, mature forest,
montane forest, and cloud forest. Though individuals
and sometimes pairs or small flocks are often observed
on the forest floor, small flocks are often seen perched
in trees.
The 15 chachalaca species are all slender, brownish
olive in color, and have long tails (plate 15- 4). Each
species is about 51 cm (20 in) from beak to tail tip. A
chachalaca has a chicken- like head, with a bare red throat,
usually visible only at close range. Most species form
flocks of up to 20 or more birds. Chachalacas are highly
vocal. The Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula) is among
the noisiest of tropical birds. Dawn along a rain forest
edge is often greeted by a host of chachalaca males, each
enthusiastically calling its harsh and monotonous cha-
cha- lac! cha- cha- lac! cha- cha- lac! The birds often remain
in thick cover, even when vocalizing, but an individual
may call from a bare limb, affording easy views.
Twenty- five species of guans and 16 species of
curassows occur in Neotropical lowland and montane
forests. Larger than chachalacas— most are the size of a
small, slender turkey— they have glossy, black plumage
set off by varying amounts of white or rufous (plate 15-
5). Some, like the Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus)
and the Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi), have bright
red “horns” or wattles on the head and/or beak. The
Blue- throated Piping- Guan (Pipile cumanensis; plate 15-
6) and the Red- throated Piping- Guan (P. cujubi; plate
15- 7) have much white about the head and wings and a
patch of colorful skin on the throat.
Guans and curassows, though quite large, can be
difficult to observe well (plate 15- 8). Small flocks move
within the canopy, defying you to get a satisfactory
binocular view of them. Like chachalacas, guans
and curassows are often vocal, especially in the early
morning hours.
There are 23 species of New World quail (family
Odontophoridae) in the Neotropics, but seeing them
requires a lot of searching and good luck. They are
generally a secretive, cryptic group, rarely giving
observers a good close look, as they scurry quietly
along the shaded forest interior (plates 15- 9– 10). Most
of these species have narrow ranges but a few are more
widely ranging.
Both New World turkey species occur in the
Neotropics. The familiar Wild Turkey (Meleagris
gallopavo), whose domesticated relative graces the
Thanksgiving table with its cooked presence, once
ranged south to Guatemala. Now only domesticated
individuals are found throughout the tropical portion of
its range. The spectacular Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris
ocellata; plate 15- 11) ranges, still wild, from the Yucatán
south through Guatemala. Smaller than the common
turkey, the Ocellated has a bright blue bare head with
red tubercles. Its plumage is more colorful than that
of its relative, particularly its tail feathers, which have264 chapter 15 neotropical birds: the bustling crowd