GENERAL DATA
Scientific name: Ortalis policephala
Class: Birds
Order: Galliformes
Family: Cracidae
Diet: Mainly herbivorous; berries, shoots, fruits, leaves, and sometimes insects.
Clutch: 2 eggs, rarely 3 or 4
Incubation: 22 days
Habitat: Tropical zones and nearby temperate plateaus, especially canyons.
Current situation: Stable
Geographic Distribution: Puebla, Oaxaca, and southwest Chiapas.
The chachalaca is a bird with long legs and tail and a crest; the skin is exposed in front of the eyes and throat; with olive coloration in the generality of the body, with the exception of the abdomen, lower coverts, and the tawny gray tip of the tail. The sexes are similar, both in appearance and size, with the male being slightly larger than the female.
During the season of appearance, chachalacas are among the loudest and most notable birds in Mexico. The name "chachalaca" is clearly onomatopoeic of the four notes of his cry that are repeated rapidly at intervals of a few seconds. Although both sexes complain, the male's voice is clearly deeper and thicker, the female screaming much less than the male. Although the screams are more noticeable during the nesting season, the chachalacas make noise during the day and at dusk at other times. In winter the males scream more and when they do not they hide in the bushes being difficult to find them; when scared they fly with difficulty between trees or climb gracefully and glide from branch to branch presenting a difficult target for predators.
Unlike other cracids, the chachalacas thrive better in the scrub and vines that follow the clearings of the tropical forest, so where other species have decreased with the use of the land, the chachalacas have conserved their environment and perhaps have increased. despite the hunt. They are very well adapted to exist in populated communities.
Nests are generally built-in thick trees or tall shrubs. A clutch is generally made up of 2 eggs, rarely 3 or 4, each egg measuring approximately 58g or 40mm. they are dull white, the incubation period is 22 days. In Mexico, it is common to incubate chachalacas eggs with chickens and raise the chicks as if they were domestic. When the eggs are wild they hatch and the chicks hatch, generally the female takes care of them, which in a few days are jumping and climbing trees. Families apparently disintegrate after chicks are partially developed.
Due to its wide distribution and abundance (despite its small size and strong leathery meat) the chachalaca is an important game bird and hunters generally follow the "follow the noise" system and attempt to stalk these birds talkative.
Cauquèn real (Chloephaga poliocephala)
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