Baudó Guan
Species Data
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Cracidae
Scientific Name: Penelope ortoni
IUCN Red List status: Endangered
Description
The elusive Baudó Guan can be found in the humid forests of west Colombia and Ecuador.
Standing at around 56-63cm tall, these birds are almost entirely dark brown, with small white patches on their breast and neck, as well as red legs and caruncle on its throat.
Behaviour
At dawn, the Baudó Guan can be heard from the canopy as they vocalise and display with courtship.
The Baudó Guan feed on fruits and seeds while foraging on the ground level and in the trees.
Breeding pairs are territorial, and post-breeding pairs live in family groups of around four – it is thought that they breed between July and September with a clutch of two eggs.
Habitat
Baudó Guan have been recorded along the west Andean foothills throughout western Colombia and in Ecuador, inhabiting humid and wet forest from the tropical to the temperate zone.
Threats and Conservation
Baudó Guan is a species which is extremely sensitive to habitat modification and hunting – it usually does not flee if approached by humans, making it an easy catch for hunters.
Large swathes of its habitat have been deforested and further development of more remote regions is progressing with the rapid expansion of roads, industrial-scale logging and intensive agriculture.
These threats have already transformed over 90% of Ecuador’s stunning landscape below 900m, harming Baudó Guan and the many other bird species that depend on this habitat to survive.
