The band-tailed guan (''Penelope argyrotis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Cracidae The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. The range of one species, the plain chachalaca, just reaches southernmost parts of Texas in the Unite ...

, the

chachalaca Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly c ...

s, guans, and curassows. It is found in Colombia and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The band-tailed guan is closely related to bearded guan (''Penelope barbata'') and they at times have been considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

. The band-tailed guan has three subspecies, the nominate ''P. a. argyrotis'', ''P. a. albicauda'', and ''P. a. colombiana''. The last of these has sometimes been treated as a separate species, and two other subspecies split from ''albicauda'' and ''colombiana'' have been proposed, but these treatments have not gained support.del Hoyo, J. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Band-tailed Guan (''Penelope argyrotis''), 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.batgua1.01 retrieved September 26, 2021 Band-tailed Guan 127 DSC1337-kl

Description

The band-tailed guan is long. Males weigh and females . The nominate subspecies' upperparts are blackish-brown to dark rufous with conspicuous white streaks. Its breast is olive brown and belly is pale to medium brown. Its face is pale grey to white and it has a prominent red

dewlap A dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin or similar flesh that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck of many vertebrates. More loosely, it can be various similar structures in the neck area, such as those caused by a double chin or the submandibul ...

. It gets its name from the wide chestnut band across the end of the tail. ''P. a. albicauda'' differs from the nominate by having buffy tips on the tail feathers. ''P. a. colombiana'' has more white on the crown and less white on the face than the nominate.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of band-tailed guan is found in the eastern Andes of Colombia and western Venezuela and also in the

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System ( es, Sistema Montañoso Caribe) is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the c ...

. ''P. a. albicauda'' is found in the

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela Venezuela (; ), offici ...

of northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. The nominate ''P. a. argyrotis'' is restricted to the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

of northern Colombia. They mostly inhabit dense wet virgin forest, though they will sometimes be found in secondary forest, shade coffee plantations, and the upper reaches of drier forest. In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta they range in elevation from and in Venezuela usually from , though locally much higher or lower.

Behavior

Feeding

The band-tailed guan usually forages in groups of up to six, but more may feed in a fruit-laden tree. It feeds on fruit, usually in the mid-story, but will eat fallen fruit on the ground.

Breeding

The band-tailed guan's breeding season extends from January to May. It is territorial though several territories may be close to each other. The nest is a loose structure of plant matter placed up to high in a tree.

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The band-tailed guan uses a wing-rattling display to announce territories; it sounds like "canvas ripping forward, then in reverse". Alarm calls are "soft, piping whistles" and in extreme alarm "a repeated shrieking 'GUEEA!' interspersed by various gruff notes".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the band-tailed guan as being of Least Concern. It is uncommon to fairly common in most of its range and in Venezuela occurs in several protected areas. However, it is threatened by deforestation and hunting.

References

External links

Band-tailed Guan videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q516052 band-tailed guan Birds of the Colombian Andes Birds of the Venezuelan Andes Birds of the Venezuelan Coastal Range band-tailed guan band-tailed guan Taxonomy articles created by Polbot