Spixguan
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Spix-guan ( Penelope jacquacu ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Penelope jacquacu | ||||||||||
| Spix , 1825 |
The Spixguan ( Penelope jacquacu ) is a hen from the Hokko family . It occurs in the forest areas in tropical South America and lives in rainforests, cloud forests, gallery forests and on clear cuts where islets of trees have been left. In Venezuela they occur at altitudes between 100 and 1800 meters, in Colombia and Peru from the lowlands at the foot of the Andes up to heights of 1500 meters.
Appearance
The Spixguane are 66 to 75 cm tall and 1.15 to 1.7 kg in weight. Males and females are the same.
Way of life
They live individually, in pairs or in small groups. Spix's guane are among the few representatives of the chicken bird that prefer to stay in trees and not live on the ground.
nutrition
The diet consists of seeds (especially palm seeds ) and soft fruits . They look for their food in the middle and high regions of the trees, only rarely on the ground.
Reproduction
The breeding season in Venezuela is January to April, in Peru it is from August to September. They build a simple nest out of leaves in trees up to 5 m high. Two eggs are laid in it, from which the chicks hatch after a four-week incubation period. After two years they are fully grown with a life expectancy of 20 years.
Systematics
The Spixguan was discovered by the German naturalist Johann Baptist Spix on his Brazil expedition from 1817 to 1820 and then described. The Latin (scientific) name refers to the name of one of the indigenous languages. This not only reflects the knowledge, but also the appreciation of the indigenous languages of Spix .
There are four subspecies, which differ in size and color.
- Penelope jacquacu granti - Guiana and the adjacent south of Venezuela east of the Orinoco .
- Penelope jacquacu orienticola - southern Venezuela and northern Brazil north of the Amazon .
- Penelope jacquacu jacquacu - Amazon basin south of the Amazon.
- Penelope jacquacu speciosa - East of Bolivia .
The Spix's Guan forms with the Weißschwingenguan ( P. albipennis ), the Bronzeguan ( P. obscura ), the Caucaguan ( P. perspicax ) and the Rostbauchguan ( P. purpurascens a) types circuit .
Game population
The game population is not threatened.
literature
- Josep del Hoyo et al .: Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guinea Fowl. Lynx Edicions, 1994, ISBN 84-87334-15-6 .
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Penelope jacquacu in the Internet Bird Collection
- Penelope jacquacu inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2013.