Animalia Life
Psophia crepitans
TAXONOMY
Psophia crepitans Linnaeus, 1758, Cayenne. Two subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Gray-winged trumpeter; German: Graurьcken-
Trompetervogel; Spanish: Trompetero Aligrнs.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
18–20 in (45–52 cm); 2–3 lb (1–1.5 kg). Dark plumage with
gray inner wings that form a light patch on the back. Long
neck and legs, hunchback appearance. Juveniles are dark gray
with cream underparts and reddish stripes.
DISTRIBUTION
North of the Amazon in northwestern Brazil, parts of Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and the Guianas.
HABITAT
Dense tropical rainforest.
BEHAVIOR
Very social bird that uses a complex set of calls to communicate.
Travels in groups of three to 12.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Forages mostly on fruit knocked to the forest floor by primates.
Insects, such as beetles, ants, and termites also are part
of the diet.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Uses a rare breeding system, cooperative polyandry, in which a
dominant female mates with three dominant males and the
other adults in the group help feed and care for the chicks.
Nests in hollow tree cavity. Lays a clutch of three eggs. Incubation
is 28 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, but population is shrinking due to loss of
HABITAT
and hunting.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
Other popular Animals
Photo Gallery of - Common trumpeter
