Ortalis guttata
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The speckled chachalaca (Ortalis guttata) is a medium-sized bird belonging to the family Cracidae (chachalacas, guans, and curassows). This species is found across the Amazonian regions of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The two Amazonian subspecies are generally common and inhabit low or open forest, thickets, and riparian areas. A third, isolated subspecies is found in a small area of southeastern Brazil.
The taxonomic history of the speckled chachalaca is complex. It was at one time considered conspecific with what was then called the variable chachalaca (Ortalis motmot) and buff-browed chachalaca (O. superciliaris). They were split and the variable chachalaca has since been split further. (Confusingly, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) then renamed O. motmot little chachalaca but the American Ornithological Society (AOS) and the Clements taxonomy retained the name "variable" for it.) Later still, three more species were split from speckled chachalaca, the East Brazilian (O. araucuan), scaled (O. squamata), and Colombian (O. columbiana) chachalacas.
The speckled chachalaca as now understood has three subspecies, the nominate... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 2 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amaru | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Bioparque Los Ocarros | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Zoologico Mundo Andino - Tipon | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Agroflori Parque de las Aves | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 5 | Tropical Manaus Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
No species of the same family or order lives in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, so these are its closest relatives here: other birds.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Speckled Chachalaca sighting in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 86th most-seen of the 208 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Speckled Chachalaca in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on a given day, against under 5% in May and July, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Speckled Chachalaca sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in our data
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Speckled Chachalaca sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Speckled Chachalaca is recorded against all the birds logged in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (39 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
