Variable/Little Chachalaca

Variable Chachalaca Ortalis motmot
(aka Little Chachalaca)

Little Chachalaca, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, July 2001 - click for larger image

Manaus, Brazil
July 2001

The Variable Chachalaca is found from southern Venezuela through the Guianas and into Brazil south to just below the river Amazon. See the distribution map at xeno-canto. The birds found south of the Amazon belong to the subspecies Ortalis motmot ruficeps known in English as the Rufous-headed Chachalaca and considered a seperate species by Sick. In 2001 the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee resolved to remove it from the Brazilian list and include it as a subspecies of Variable Chachalaca and this is the treatment followed by Howard & Moore 4th Edition. Now in 2025 Ebird and Clements include Ortalis ruficeps as a species with the English name of Chestnut-headed Chachalaca.

The Variable Chachalaca is not normally found in dense forest and seems to prefer clearings and forest patches with dense undergrowth where it feeds on fruit and berries both on the ground and in the trees.

It has a chestnut head, a red dewlap and brown wings.

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