Rusty-margined Guan

Overview

The rusty-margined guan (Penelope superciliaris) is a species of bird in the family Cracidae, which includes chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is currently assessed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• A large bird measuring 55 to 73 cm in length.
• Upperparts are dark olive to brownish with distinctive reddish margins on the wing coverts and scapulars, as well as a rusty belly.
• The face is pale, featuring a supercilium that ranges in colour from white to buff or ochre depending on the subspecies.
• Produces a gruff barking call, likely used for alarm, and performs a wing-whirring display.

Habitat

Found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay, this species inhabits a wide variety of landscapes including the interior and edges of heavy forest, gallery forest, restinga, woodlands in cerrado grasslands, caatinga, mangroves, and Eucalyptus plantations. It is generally a bird of the lowlands but can be found at elevations up to 1,300 m in parts of Brazil.

Diet

The rusty-margined guan forages alone, in pairs, or in groups of up to 10 birds, mainly between 5 and 10 m above the ground but often feeding on the ground. Its diet consists almost entirely of fruit, with one study identifying 117 plant species, alongside small amounts of flowers, leaves, and insects.

Did you know?

The bird is essentially sedentary and seldom flies more than 20 m, yet in some areas it roosts in higher areas and moves down to feed, changing elevation by up to 400 m.