Animalia Life

Chamaepetes unicolor
SUBFAMILY
Penelopinae
TAXONOMY
Chamжpetes unicolor Salvin, 1867, Veragua. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Black sickle-winged guan; French: Pйnйlope unicolore; German: Mohrenguan; Spanish: Pava Negra.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
24–27 in (62–67 cm); 2.4–2.6 lb (1.1–1.2 kg). Male is completely black with a bare blue facial patch.
DISTRIBUTION
This species is restricted to Costa Rica and western Panama.
HABITAT
Found in montane forest above 3,300 ft (1,000 m) in southern Central America.
BEHAVIOR
Black guans are one of the few cracids known to live singly outside the breeding season and are found in pairs only during the breeding season. The black guan’s wing sound is quite different compared to the crested guan. When this bird, in its long glide, has reached the middle of a clearing, it beats its wings rapidly over a short stretch in such a way that the longer feathers alternately separate and beat together. Thus it produces a wooden-sounding clatter of surprising loudness, which can be imitated by drawing a thin, narrow piece of wood over an iron grating or by holding it against the spokes of a wheel.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Generally fruits, also seeds and several species of plants. Forages singly, in pairs, or in small groups.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Clutch size is typically two to three eggs. Downy chicks are brown with striped pattern on the head.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Considered Near Threatened, this species is threatened with
HABITAT
destruction, and is vulnerable because it is restricted to montane forests at 3,300–8,200 ft (1,000–2,500 m). Furthermore, it is endemic to a small region of Costa Rica and Panama. Nonetheless it might be locally common in at least some regions where it is protected. For example, in the early 1990s densities were approximately 7.4 birds per km2 at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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