White-browed Guan Penelope jacucaca

White-browed Guan Penelope jacucaca

Brazilian name: Jacucaca

Mãe-da-Lua Reserve, Ceará, Brazil
October 2008

The White-browed Guan is a Brazilian endemic found in the caatinga of north-east Brazil. It is classified as Vulnerable by Birdlife International partly because of the threat to the caatinga habitat but also because of the threat from hunting.

It has a prominent white supercilium and prominent white streaks on the upperwing.

These photos were taken on the Mãe-da-Lua Reserve owned by Hermann Redies who has constructed a small hide by a water-hole where the birds come to drink and feed early in the morning.

I was in the hide by 4:00 a.m. and at about 5:00 a.m. I heard then saw the birds as they headed towards the spring. I counted 10 including one youngster but there were more to another side of the hide and I would guess that there were about 14 in total. At that time in the morning the light was very poor and I didn't want to spook these very nervous birds with flash but I got a few photos at ISO 6400 of this difficult to see species. After a marvelous 15 minutes or so something did spook them. I suspect that a group of White-naped Jays may have detected my presence and raised the alarm.

Hermann has a lot of information and some great photos and recordings on his website.

There are recordings on xeno-canto, a distribution map from NatureServe and additional information available via Avibase.

I received an e-mail from Hermann in early 2015 when he tells me that the population has grown from the 14 or so individuals that I saw in 2008 to about 80 birds. This is testament to the great work of conservation that he has done on his reserve. See a video about it here.

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