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Status: Population size: 18,000 - 21,000 (Texas)

Plain Chachalaca
(Ortalis vetula)

Often heard before they are seen, Plain Chachalacas are birds like no other in North America. In the United States, they are found only in the brushy woods of Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley, but this species is also a permanent resident throughout much of northern Central America. Plain Chachalacas face the continued threat of deforestation, especially in Central America, where loss of habitat also leads to increased subsistence hunting pressure.

Identification
Chachalacas are medium-sized, turkey-like birds that are widespread throughout Central and South America. Plain Chachalacas are the only members of their family to be found in the United States. These birds resemble female Ring-necked Pheasants in both size and shape, with short bills, small heads, plump bodies, and long tails. Adult Plain Chachalacas are a dull olive-brown above, with grayish heads, and then become more buffy-colored on their bellies. Their long tails are tipped with white markings. During breeding season, these chachalacas show patches of bare red skin just below their bills. Plain Chachalacas, along with other chachalaca species, have loud, raucous calls, so they are often first detected and identified by their calls: "cha-cha-la-ka, cha-cha-la-ka."

Distribution and Population Trends
In the United States, Plain Chachalacas are found naturally only in the lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas; there are also introduced populations of this species found further north in Texas, and off the coast of Georgia. From south Texas, Plain Chachalacas' range extends southward along the Gulf-Caribbean slope of Central America, through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras to northern Nicaragua. This species can also be found on the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, in the northwestern part of that country.

Surveys of Plain Chachalacas in south Texas between 1990 and 1997 found no population trend for the species in that area, and no trend estimates are available from the remainder of the birds' range.

Ecology
A gregarious species, groups of Plain Chachalacas are often found crashing through trees in thickets, scrubland, and second-growth forest. In south Texas, these birds are commonly seen around ponds, riverbanks, and other water sources, along which they often build their nests. Females incubate a typical clutch of two to three eggs for about 25 days, and then the chicks leave the nest shortly after hatching. Young birds can grasp branches almost immediately and they are capable of short-distance bursts of flight within a week of hatching. Both sexes provide parental care for young for some time after they leave the nest.

As a largely arboreal species, Plain Chachalacas forage mainly in trees and shrubs, although they do sometimes feed on the ground as well. Birds in south Texas feed primarily on leaves/buds and berries/seeds, with the composition of their diets changing dramatically over the course of a year. During the winter, leaves and buds make up more than 60% of their diet, while in the fall, Plain Chachalacas feed almost exclusively (99% of their diet) on berries and seeds. During the spring and summer, birds also consume some animals, especially snails and caterpillars.

Plain Chachalacas are a sedentary species, found throughout their range on a year-round basis.

Threats
The major threat to Plain Chachalacas is the destruction of their favored brush habitat. In south Texas, a substantial amount of suitable habitat had been converted for agricultural use by 1910, and between 1939 and 1971, 75% of the remaining chachalaca habitat in the area was eliminated, largely for agricultural and residential use. Today, Plain Chachalacas in south Texas are found primarily in protected areas such as Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Large-scale deforestation has also occurred recently in Central America, with Nicaragua losing more than 50,000 square kilometers of forest and Honduras more than 40,000 square kilometers (about 36% of the country) just during the 1970s and 1980s. Besides directly eliminating suitable habitat for birds, such deforestation also impacts Plain Chachalacas by relegating populations to small habitat patches, where birds are more easily exploited by local subsistence hunters.

Conservation
Plain Chachalacas in south Texas have benefited greatly from conservation efforts focused on another brushland species, the White-winged Dove. This dove is a popular game bird in Texas, so money collected from hunters has been used to preserve White-winged Dove nesting habitat, which also happens to be excellent habitat for Plain Chachalacas. As of 1994, more than 18,000 hectares of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley were protected as wildlife management areas, state parks, or national wildlife refuges, with many lands being revegetated with native brush species. Plain Chachalacas have also benefited from population restoration efforts in south Texas during the past 40+ years. Since 1959, more than 2,500 wild chachalacas have been trapped and relocated to suitable habitat both within and beyond the species' suitable range. These introduction/reintroduction efforts have been successful at roughly 45% of the release sites.

What Can You Do?
U.S. National Wildlife Refuges provide essential habitat for Plain Chachalacas, and a great number of other species throughout the U.S. and its territories. Unfortunately, the refuge system is often under-funded during the U.S. government's budgeting process. To learn more about how you can help gain much needed funding for U.S. National Wildlife Refuges, visit: http://www.audubon.org/campaign/refuge_report/

References
Kaufman, Kenn. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.

Peterson, M. J. 2000. Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula). In The Birds of North America, No. 550 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Sibley, David A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.