Andean Guan - BirdForum Opus

Male and Female, Subspecies montagnii, with yellow bill
Photo by Digitalbcon
Acaime Natural Reserve near Salento, Quindio, Colombia, April 2014

Penelope montagnii

Identification

51–61 cm (20-24 in)

• Long body
• Thin neck
• Small head
• Brown plumage with whitish feather-edging on the head, neck and chest
• Red dewlap
• Reddish legs
• Bill seems variable with at least some northern birds showing yellow bill

Distribution

Probable subspecies montagnii with black bill
Photo by Luis R
La Azulita, Mérida State, Venezuela, June 2014

South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 5 subspecies^[1]:

• P. m. montagnii:

• Northern and central Colombia and north-western Venezuela

• P. m. atrogularis:

• Western slope of Andes of southern Colombia and Ecuador

• P. m. brooki:

• Eastern slope of Andes of southern Colombia and Ecuador

• P. m. plumosa:

• Eastern slope of Andes of Peru

• P. m. sclateri:

• Yungas of Bolivia

Habitat

Cloud forest with epiphytes, including dwarf forests. Observed at heights around 2183 m.

Behaviour

It follows migrating Army Ants.

Diet

A variety of ripe and unripe fruit and seeds.

Breeding

They nest in a tree, and a single egg is laid.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved October 2015)
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Andean Guan. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Andean_Guan

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