Guans, curassows and chachalacas | Cracidae

Hokko's en chachalaca's | Crácidos | Guans, curassows and chachalacas

In the area of this guide the family numbers 37 species in nine genera, from the noisy chachalacas of scrub and forest edge and the guans of lowland and cloud forest, with the Andean Guan reaching the treeline, to the large curassows of the Amazonian forest and the helmeted curassows of the Andean foothills. They are gamebirds that, unlike their relatives, live mainly in trees: the tail is long and broad, the legs are sturdy and the hind toe sits level with the front toes, so they walk and clamber easily along branches. Many species have bare throat skin or a coloured dewlap, and in curassows the male carries a crest of curled feathers and often a knob, wattle or casque on the bill. They feed mainly on fruit, leaves and flowers and are important seed dispersers. Chachalacas call in chorus at dawn, guans make a dry rattle with their wings in flight, and in several species the windpipe is elongated, producing deep booming and whistling notes. The nest is an untidy platform in a tree or shrub, holding two or three large white eggs with a rough shell. Hunting has made the larger species scarce almost everywhere.