Highland Guan

The pheasant is a dimorphic bird, with the female being larger and heavier than the male. Body length 59-65 cm, weight 860-920 grams. The whole plumage of the adult male bird is black, the upper body has a blue-green luster, and the lower body is darker in the thorax and abdomen. Its beak was red, its eye rings bare brownish-red, and a curtain of bright red flesh hung beneath its throat. Red legs and feet. The male is black in plumage and shorter in body, with a gray beak and dark red legs. The young and the female are of similar colour.

It is found in Guatemala, Honduras, southern Mexico, and northern Nicaragua. Possible extinction: El Salvador.
It inhabits subtropical humid evergreen mountain forests.

Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra), no subspecies.

Crested pheasants spend a lot of time in trees, feeding on berries and fruits, and sometimes descend to the ground to catch and eat animals, including lizards and mice. They usually occur alone and in pairs or in small groups of 3-4 individuals. The calls were like high whistles, echoing one another.

Although pheasants are often found in pairs, the species is polygamous, and a greater proportion of females is beneficial to the offspring's hatching success. The breeding season is between February and May, and the nest is large and loose, made of branches and leaves, with a few feathers. It is usually placed in a branch, tree fern, or bush, sometimes near or on the ground. Each clutch contains 2 eggs, which hatch between March and June.

Due to human development, large-scale deforestation, deforestation and firewood harvesting, as well as agricultural expansion, the development of new roads has led to the development and utilization of more and more primitive forests, crowding out the space that originally belonged to wildlife. Habitat loss is the biggest threat to the species' survival.

Listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2016 Red List of Threatened Species ver 3.1 - Vulnerable (VU).  

Listed in Appendices I, II and III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 2019 edition Appendix III.

Protect wild animals and eliminate wild meat.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!