The Yungas guan (''Penelope bridgesi'') 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 lightweigh ...

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 ...

guan Guan may refer to: * Guan (surname), several similar Chinese surnames ** Guān, Chinese surname * Guan (state), ancient Chinese city-state * Guan (bird), any of a number of bird species of the family Cracidae, of South and Central America * Guan ( ...

s, and

curassow Curassows are one of the three major groups of cracid birds. They comprise the largest-bodied species of the cracid family. Three of the four genera are restricted to tropical South America; a single species of ''Crax'' ranges north to Mexico. ...

s. It is found in the Andean foothills of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Prior to late 2020, the Yungas guan was considered a subspecies of dusky-legged guan (''Penelope obscura''). A 2018 publication detailed many morphological differences between them. An earlier publication had highlighted their very different vocalizations.del Hoyo, J. & Motis, A. (2004) Update Chapter. Pp. 322-476 in: Delacour, J & Amadon, J. 2004 Curassows and Related Birds. Second Edition. Lynx Edicions and NMNH, Barcelona & New York. Based on that evidence and the members' personal knowledge, the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

elevated it to species rank in December 2020, and the

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

followed suit in January 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 13 December 2020. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved December 13, 2020

Description

Male and female Yungas guans are alike. They are chestnut above and dull reddish brown below. The belly has brown to orange horizontal markings and the tail is dark brown. The head and back of the neck are black. Feathers of the neck, back, and chest have white edges that are significantly larger than those of ''P. obscura''. The bare skin of the face is slate gray and the wattle is red. The Yungas guan is larger than ''P. obscura''; the lengths of nine specimens were between and compared to and for two specimens of ''P. obscura''.

Distribution and habitat

The Yungas guan is found on the east side of the Andes in the

Southern Andean Yungas The Southern Andean Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. Geography The ecoregion occurs along the eastern slope of the Andes from southern Bolivia ...

of southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. It inhabits

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

evergreen forest from below up to approximately .del Hoyo, J. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Dusky-legged Guan (Penelope obscura), 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.dulgua1.01 retrieved April 17, 2021

Behavior and ecology

The Yungas guan eats fruit and leaves with the proportions and species of each varying throughout its range. Though the bird is generally sedentary, it is thought to change its elevation in different seasons. The species' breeding season is mainly between October and December.

Status

The Yungas guan's population may be as high as 100,000 individuals. However, the Argentinian Dirección General de Fauna considers it vulnerable in that country because it is heavily hunted for food and sport. The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has not assessed the species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q41011858 Yungas guan Birds of Argentina Yungas guan Yungas guan