Spix's Guan

Overview

Spix's guan (Penelope jacquacu) is a cracid bird often described as the prototypical cracid of the Amazonian lowlands. The common name honours the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix.

Identification

• Body length ranges from 66 to 76 cm, with males typically heavier than females.
• The nominate subspecies displays bronzy olive green plumage on the upper parts and bright reddish feathers below.
• Grant's guan is considerably darker with a blue-green gloss on the upper parts and a dark red underside.

Habitat

This species inhabits both terra firma and várzea forest across the upper Orinoco and western Amazon River basins in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It occupies cloud forest at higher elevations in Peru and Bolivia, and humid rainforest at lower levels.

Diet

Spix's guan forages singly or in small family groups, primarily in the middle to upper sections of trees, though it sometimes feeds on the ground. Its diet consists mainly of fruits and seeds, though it has been observed following army ants to consume arthropods.

Did you know?

The species is assumed to be sedentary, despite its vast geographic range spanning approximately 5.9 million square kilometres.