CURASSOWS & QUANS - in Belize

Great Curassow

Plain Chachalaca

Great Curassow

Great Curassow - Very large game bird of tropical forest, eliminated from most areas by hunting. Rarely found except in protected parks or very remote areas. Usually seen on the forest floor, singly or in small groups, but also feeds in trees. Males often sing from high in canopy: song is a very low-pitched, almost subliminal, booming sound. Not likely to be confused if seen well. Both sexes have distinctive curly crest. Female plumage is variable: some have bold barring, others have darker and mostly unbarred plumage.
BELIZE HABITAT - Typically, forest floor within primary broadleaf forest interior; less often in secondary and fragmented forest.  Roosts in trees.
Where can I find this bird in Belize?
Resident nearly throughout on mainland; now scarce or absent near populated areas where regularly pursued for food.  Although fairly common in areas where it is protected (i.e. Rio Bravo Conservation & Management Area Orange Walk), it remains shy and retiring.

Plain Chachalaca

Plain Chachalaca - Large chickenlike bird found in brushy woodland. Olive-brown overall with warmer buffy belly and long tail and neck. Bare red moustache is usually hidden. Tail feathers have white tips. Extremely noisy and full of character. Small groups crash through the brush from tree to tree with the grace of a large bulldozer. Often heard "singing" a cacophony of grating shouts and squawks. Feeds mainly on fruit.
BELIZE HABITAT - Forest floor to sub-canopy within open woodland and scrub; forest edge.  Gregarious.
Where can I find this bird in Belize?
Common resident on mainland and north Ambergris Caye.

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Crested Guan

Crested Guan

Crested Guan - Very large, long-tailed game bird of tropical and subtropical forest. Often seen high in trees or flying through the forest canopy; usually not seen in areas near people except in some protected areas due to hunting pressure. Typically in pairs or small groups and wary. Plumage dark overall (often looks blackish) with bright red throat wattle; white streaking on body visible at closer range. Crest is bushy and usually not a striking feature. Very large, long-tailed game bird of tropical and subtropical forest. Often seen high in trees or flying through the forest canopy; usually not seen in areas near people except in some protected areas due to hunting pressure. Typically in pairs or small groups and wary. Plumage dark overall (often looks blackish) with bright red throat wattle; white streaking on body visible at closer range. Crest is bushy and usually not a striking feature.
BELIZE HABITAT - Forested areas (broadleaf and pine); largely arboreal.
Where can I find this bird in Belize?
Locally uncommon in many areas on mainland, but increasingly scarce to absent near populated areas where hunted for food.  Where protected from hunting, as in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, fairly common and easily seen.

Ocellated Turkey

Ocellated Turkey

Ocellated Turkey - Large, distinctive, spectacular gamebird of tropical forest, brushy fields, and adjacent clearings. Rarely seen away from protected areas, where can be common and tame. Note orange head ‘warts,’ copper-colored wing panel, and iridescent blue-and-gold eyespots (‘ocelli’) on rump and tail tip. Often in groups; feeds on the ground, but roosts in trees. Beware: domestic turkeys are common in the range of Ocellated, but are usually around people.
BELIZE HABITAT - Primary broadleaf and pine forest and forest clearings.  Typically found on the ground during the day, but roosts in trees.
Where can I find this bird in Belize?
Uncommon to locally common resident, restricted to west Orange Walk locally central to near Hill Bank and in south half of Cayo; locally also in north Cayo.  Only common in the few places where it is protected from persecution.  Occsaional reliable reports from east of the Maya Mountains suggest that it was once more widespread in Belize.

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