West Mexican Chachalaca, Ortalis poliocephala

West Mexican Chachalaca, Ortalis poliocephala. Birds photographed in the greater Zihuatanejo area, Guerrero, January 2019. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuatanejo.

West Mexican Chachalaca, Ortalis poliocephala. Birds photographed in the greater Zihuatanejo area, Guerrero, March 2019. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuatanejo.

West Mexican Chachalaca, Ortalis poliocephala. Birds photographed in Parque National Huatulco, Huatulco, Oaxaca, March 2021. Photographs and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

The West Mexican Chachalaca, Ortalis poliocephala, is a member of the Cracidae Family of Guans, Chachalacas and Curassows, which has fifty-six members placed in eleven genera, and one of sixteen global species of the Ortalis Genus. They are also known as Wagler’s Chachalaca and in Mexico as chachalaca pechigrís.

The West Mexican Chachalaca is large in stature. The sexes are similar in appearance. They are a grayish brown color with darker gray heads and upper necks. Their lower breast and belly are white and their uppertail coverts are cinnamon. They have long necks, long tails that have a wide creamy margin, and long and shout legs. Their bill is pale gray, their eyes are hazel brown, and their legs and toes are an ashy gray.

The West Mexican Chachalaca is found in deciduous forest, thorn scrub, second growth, and, in pine-oak forests. They primarily consume seasonal fruits, flowers, seeds and leaves with limited amounts of insects. They are known for their raucous calls.

The West Mexican Chachalaca and be confused with the Plain Chachalaca, Ortalis vetula (smaller with a buffy brown belly, Atlantic Slope only), the Rufous-bellied Chachalaca, Ortalis wagleri (rufuous bell and rufous tipped rectrices but normally found in northern latitudes at lower elevations), and the White-bellied Chachalaca, Ortalis leucogastra (smaller in stature with broader whiter tipped rectrices, whitish coverts).

The West Mexican Chachalaca is ENDEMIC to Mexico and found within the coastal regions of the Pacific Slope from northern Jalisco south to southwest Chiapas at elevations below 2,400 m (7,900 feet). The West Mexican Chachalaca has been poorly studied and very limited information about their behavioral patterns and biology has been documented.

From a conservation perspective the West Mexican Chachalaca is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are hunted for food and for sport but not a levels that have significant affected their population levels.