Chachalaca

"Ortalis" redirects here. For the genus of insect, see Ortalis (fly).
"Chachalacas" redirects here. For the Veracruz town, see Playa Chachalacas.

Chachalaca
Rufous-vented chachalaca, Ortalis ruficauda
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Cracidae
Subfamily: Cracinae
Genus: Ortalis
Merrem, 1786
Type species
Phasianus motmot
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

16, see text.

Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus Ortalis. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas),[1][2] Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly common even near humans, as their relatively small size makes them less desirable to hunters than their larger relatives. As agricultural pests, they have a ravenous appetite for tomatoes, melons, beans, and radishes and can ravage a small garden in short order. They travel in packs of six to twelve.[3] Their nests are made of sticks, twigs, leaves, or moss and are generally frail, flat structures only a few feet above the ground. During April, they lay from three to five buffy white eggs, the shell of which is very rough and hard.[4] They somewhat resemble the guans, and the two have commonly been placed in a subfamily together, though the chachalacas are probably closer to the curassows.[5]

  1. ^ Marion, Wayne R. (September 1974). "Status of the Plain Chachalaca in South Texas". The Wilson Bulletin. 86 (3): 200–205. JSTOR 4160499.
  2. ^ Sherr, Evelyn B. (2015). Marsh Mud and Mummichogs: An Intimate Natural History of Coastal Georgia. U. Of Georgia Press. p. 96. Archived from the original on 2015-07-23. In the 1920s Howard E. Coffin introduced a breeding population of chachalacas to Sapelo Island, and this breeding population still exists.
  3. ^ "Gray-headed Chachalaca". neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/home. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  4. ^ "THE BIRD BOOK".
  5. ^ Pereira, S.L.; Baker, A.J.; Wajntal, A. (2002). "Combined nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences resolve generic relationships within the Cracidae (Galliformes, Aves)". Systematic Biology. 51 (6): 946–958. doi:10.1080/10635150290102519. PMID 12554460.