Chickens are the most common domesticated animals worldwide. Alongside familiar species, there are many types of chickens that are only recorded in the tropical regions of the Americas, exhibiting behaviors of living and nesting in trees.
Great Curassow (Crax rubra) measures 78-92 cm in length and ranges from Mexico to Ecuador. Like other species in the genus Crax, they have curly feather tufts on their heads.
Bare-faced Curassow (Crax fasciolata) is 84 cm long and can be found in several areas of Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. This species has sparse feathers on its face and lacks the fleshy throat pouch or small fleshy knob on its beak, unlike its close relatives.
Gray-headed Chachalaca (Ortalis cinereiceps) measures 46 cm in length and inhabits shrub-dense areas stretching from Honduras to Colombia. All chachalaca species are brown in color, and their name is derived from their distinctive call.
Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula) measures 48-53 cm in length and is recorded from Texas in the U.S. to Costa Rica. This species is the northernmost member of the American chachalaca family and is the only one found in the United States.
Chestnut-bellied Guan (Penelope ochrogaster) measures 67-75 cm and is recorded in the central southern region of Brazil. The classic throat pouch of brown guan species is particularly well-developed in this species.
Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra) measures 59-65 cm and is distributed in Central America. This species is more terrestrial than other guan species and is likely the only one in the American guan family that nests on the ground.
Cauca Guan (Penelope perspicax) measures 76 cm and is only found in the Cauca Valley in western and northern Colombia. They share a very similar appearance and can be confused with their close relative, the Spix’s Guan.
Black-footed Guan (Penelope obscura) measures 68-75 cm and is distributed in central South America, from Brazil to northern Argentina. This is the only brown guan species with grayish legs instead of red.
Bearded Guan (Penelope barbata) measures 55 cm and is distributed in Ecuador and Peru. This species inhabits rainforests similar to other relatives in the genus Penelope. Their name comes from the white stripes resembling a beard on their neck.
Spix’s Guan (Penelope jacquacu) measures 66-76 cm and is common in the northwestern part of South America. They belong to the group of brown guans with a distinctive red throat pouch. This species has a notably loud mating call.
Cumaná Guan (Pipile cumanensis) measures 69 cm and is sporadically recorded in Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. This species lives in trees and has the characteristic glossy black plumage of guans. During the breeding season, they emit sharp calls.
