Chachalacas, Guans and Curassows (Cracidae)
Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula)
French: Ortalide chacamel German: Blauflügelguan Spanish: Chachalaca Norteña
Other common names: Common/Mexican/Eastern Chachalaca; Northern Chachalaca (mccallii); Utila Chachalaca (deschauenseei)
Taxonomy:
Penelope vetula Wagler, 1830, Mexico.
O. poliocephala and O. leucogastra formerly considered races of present species. Population of dry interior valley of Chiapas, S Mexico, was separated in race vallicola, but differences slight and not usually recognized. Isolated population in Costa Rica may represent undescribed race; sometimes assigned to O. leucogastra. In Chiapas, range meets, and may slightly overlap with those of O. poliocephala and O. leucogastra but hybridization not recorded. Four subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- mccallii Baird, 1858 - extreme S Texas (USA) and NE Mexico S to N Veracruz.
- vetula (Wagler, 1830) - E & S Mexico, Belize, E Guatemala, Honduras, W Nicaragua and NW Costa Rica.
- pallidiventris Ridgway, 1887 - N Yucatán.
- deschauenseei Bond, 1936 - Utila I, off N Honduras.
- Least Concern
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Two birds feeding in a bush. Tikal National Park, Petén, Guatemala (vetula)
Pieter de Groot Bo... 6 August 2005 2 years ago 32 sec 4.2 -
A bird walking on branches Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Jaguar Preserve), Stann Creek District, Belize (pallidiventris)
Wayne Hall 7 February 2007 1 year ago 32 sec 4 -
A bird in a tree, alert Tolum, Quintana Roo State, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (Southern) (pallidiventris)
Josep del Hoyo 25 September 2006 3 years ago 36 sec 3.8 -
A bird feeding in a bush. Tikal National Park, Petén, Guatemala (vetula)
Pieter de Groot Bo... 6 August 2005 2 years ago 7 sec 3.7 -
A bird on the ground Quintana Roo State, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (Southern)
Juan Sanabria 1 August 2009 9 weeks ago 14 sec 3.7 -
A bird answering the calls of others Quintana Roo State, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (Southern)
Juan Sanabria 1 August 2009 9 weeks ago 23 sec 3.7
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Plain Chachalaca Texas, USA
killiajk 19 January 2008 1 year ago 3 -
A close-up of a bird. Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico (Southern) (vetula)
albert 22 December 2009 1 year ago 3 -
A bird perched on a branch. Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico (Southern) (vetula)
albert 31 December 2008 1 year ago 2
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A group of birds calling.
Sumidero Canyon, Chiapas State, Mexico (Southern)
(vetula)
Josep del Hoyo 8 April 2009 34 weeks ago 3
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