The red-throated piping guan is a species of bird in the chachalaca, guan, and curassow family Cracidae. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil.
Region
Amazon Basin
Typical Environment
Occurs in lowland tropical forests of northern Bolivia and central to eastern Amazonian Brazil, including terra firme and seasonally flooded várzea. It favors mature forest with abundant fruiting trees, but also uses river edges, gallery forest, and secondary growth with large canopy trees. Birds often move along major rivers and between forest fragments to track fruit availability. It roosts and forages high in the canopy, descending rarely to the ground. Hunting pressure makes it more common in remote, less-accessible tracts.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The red-throated piping guan is a large, canopy-dwelling cracid that plays an important role as a seed disperser in Amazonian forests. Its name comes from its clear, fluty 'piping' whistles and display flights that include audible wing-whirring. It is wary where hunted and often detected by its calls at dawn. Local declines are linked to hunting pressure and habitat loss along river corridors.
Temperament
wary and shy
Flight Pattern
short powerful flights between canopy trees with occasional gliding; audible wing-whirr in display
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or in small family groups, especially at fruiting trees. Pairs are thought to be seasonally monogamous, nesting high in trees on a platform of sticks and leaves. Clutches are small, and adults share parental care. Roosting often occurs communally in tall trees near rivers or interior forest.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives clear, fluty piping whistles that carry through the forest at dawn and dusk. Also produces low coos and grunts at close range, and wing-drumming sounds during display flights.
Plumage
Mostly glossy black with white speckling and edging on the mantle and wing coverts; small bushy crest on the crown. Bare facial skin is pale bluish, contrasting with a prominent red throat wattle. Wing coverts show pale tips that form a spotted or scalloped pattern in good light.
Diet
Primarily consumes fruits, especially figs and palm fruits, swallowing them whole and dispersing seeds over long distances. Also takes berries, seeds, and occasionally flowers and young leaves. Invertebrates are rarely taken and are not a significant component of the diet.
Preferred Environment
Forages mostly in the upper canopy and along forest edges, concentrating at fruiting trees. Frequently visits river margins and várzea where fruit is seasonally abundant. Will use secondary forests if large fruiting trees are present.
