sickle-winged guan

{{short description|Species of bird}}

{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Sickle-winged Guan.jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22678446/92774138 |title=Sickle-winged Guan Chamaepetes goudotii |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year=2016 |access-date=25 September 2021}}

| genus = Chamaepetes

| species = goudotii

| authority = (Lesson, 1828)

| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies

| subdivision =

  • C. g. goudotii (Lesson, 1828)
  • C. g. sanctaemarthae (Chapman, 1912)
  • C. g. fagani (Chubb, 1917)
  • C. g. tschudii (Taczanowski, 1886)
  • C. g. rufiventris (Tschudi, 1843)

| synonyms =

| range_map = Chamaepetes goudotii map.svg

}}

The sickle-winged guan (Chamaepetes goudotii) is a species of bird in the chachalaca, guan, and curassow family Cracidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/ |title=IOC World Bird List (v 11.2) |last1=Gill |first1= F. |last2=Donsker|first2=D.|last3=Rasmussen |first3=P. |date=July 2021 |access-date=July 14, 2021 }}Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved August 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The sickle-winged guan shares the genus Chamaepetes with the black guan (C. unicolor) of southern Central America and may form a superspecies with it.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021 It has the five subspecies listed in the box to the right.

Description

The sickle-winged guan is {{convert|50|to|65|cm|ft|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|550|to|800|g|lb|abbr=on}}. The subspecies differ in size; C. g. tschudii and C. g. rufiventris are the largest. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a brown head and neck, dark upperparts, bright chestnut belly, pale blue facial skin, and red eyes. Juveniles are similar but duller. C. g. sanctaemarthae{{apostrophe}}s upper breast, throat, and cheeks are redder than the nominate's and its vent area a darker red. C. g. fagani{{apostrophe}}s head and upperparts are much darker than those of the nominate and sanctaemarthae and its underparts are chestnut. C. g. tschudii is similar to fagani but has more olive-brown upperparts and the chestnut of the underparts is lighter. C. g. rufiventris has gray edges on its neck feathers that give a scaly appearance; it is also a paler olive above and less chestnut on the underparts than tschudii.del Hoyo, J. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Sickle-winged Guan (Chamaepetes goudotii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.siwgua1.01 retrieved September 25, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of sickle-winged guan are distributed thus:

  • C. g. goudotii, western and central Andes of Colombia south to Nariño Department
  • C. g. sanctaemarthae, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of northeastern Colombia
  • C. g. fagani, west slope of the Andes from Colombia's Nariño Department south to Ecuador's El Oro Province
  • C. g. tschudii, east slope of the Andes from southern Colombia through Ecuador to Peru's Department of San Martín
  • C. g. rufiventris, east slope of the Andes from central to southern Peru and isolated areas in north and central Bolivia

The sickle-winged guan inhabits humid and wet forest, preferring tall forest but also found at edges and in secondary forest. The sickle-winged guan is generally a bird of middle elevations. It reaches as high as {{convert|3000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta but elsewhere in Colombia is mostly between {{convert|1100|and|2500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. In Peru it is typically found between {{convert|1450|and|2500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Its Bolivian populations are at the highest elevations, {{convert|2500|to|3500|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

Behavior

=Feeding=

The sickle-winged guan primarily forages in fruiting trees, often as high as {{convert|13|m|ft|abbr=on}} above ground. Pairs forage together or as part of groups of up to eight birds, usually around dawn and dusk. It mostly feeds on small fruits but also adds flowers, leaves, and invertebrates for as much as 15% of its diet. In some areas it frequents feeding stations to eat bananas.

=Breeding=

The sickle-winged guan's breeding season in the Colombian Andes spans from January to June and may extend beyond that in other areas. The nest is a platform of thin branches, moss, and green and dead vegetation, usually placed in a tree fork or on a bromeliad. The clutch size is two or three eggs.

=Vocal and non-vocal sounds=

{{birdsong|url=https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Chamaepetes-goudotii |species=sickle-winged guan}}

The fagini subspecies of sickle-winged guan gives an " extremely thin, high-pitched...whistle" and a "keeeeeee-uk!" alarm call. Its wing-whirring display is usually given at dawn and dusk as it flies back and forth between two trees.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the sickle-winged guan as being of Least Concern. It is considered to be fairly common to common except in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the small Bolivian enclaves. It appears to tolerate some habitat alteration and, at least away from villages, to not have much hunting pressure.

References