Rufous-vented Chachalaca

Sightings
Rufous-vented Chachalaca is abundant on Tobago but is not found on Trinidad. It was very common around the Blue Waters Inn especially in the early morning and late evening when several birds would walk along the path between our room and the beach. On this occasion, I sat on the wall in front of our hotel room and watched and photographed this bird as it walked towards me before hopping down onto the beach when it was only one metre away from me.

Species
Rufous-vented Chachalaca Ortalis ruficauda is a member of an ancient group of birds of the Cracidae family. It is a largely arboreal species found in forest and woodland but it is also found in more open dry scrubby areas. This combined with relatively low hunting pressure make it far less vulnerable than larger members of the family, notably curassows. It is a very noisy species especially around the hotel at dawn. This species is one of the national birds of Trinidad and Tobago and is featured on the country’s coat of arms along with Scarlet Ibis, the ibis representing Trinidad. It is currently considered a pest by some people in its native island of Tobago. Agriculturists in Trinidad and Tobago are trying to find ways that the bird is of benefit to humans as well as maintaining a healthy wild population.

Status and Distribution
It is a species of least concern with a stable population in its range of less than a million square kilometres. It inhabits north east Colombia and northern Venezuela where it is called Guacharaca, and the island of Tobago where it is known as Cocrico. There are two subspecies of which O. r. ruficauda is found on Tobago.

References
BirdLife; Wikipedia; World Bird Names; Kenefick, M., Restall, R., and Hayes, F. (2015) Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 28.

Photograph
The photograph was taken in low early morning light 1/250th of a second, f5.6 and ISO 2000.