Crested Guan

Penelope purpurascens, known as the crested guan, is a species of the family Cracidae. It is large, with a long neck and a long, broad tail. It measures between 81 and 91 cm and weighs roughly 1.6 to 2.5 kg. It has an orange-red dewlap and a dense, conspicuous erectile crest. Almost the whole body is dark olive brown, with purple or pale green iridescence; the feathers of the neck, back and underparts have conspicuous whitish edges. Rusty brown back, red eyes, black bill and intensely blue-grey bare facial skin. The species is distributed from Mexico to the coastal regions of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. In Mexico it lives on the Pacific slope, from Sinaloa to Chiapas, including the south-eastern states of the country, and also in Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí. It generally lives in tropical and subtropical areas, between 0 and 2,500 m above sea level, using the middle and upper layers of the canopy; it is rarely found on the ground. Although Mexico's NOM-059-SEMARNAT 2010 lists it as threatened and the IUCN 2019-1 as of least concern, without conservation measures it could in the near future be endangered because of heavy hunting pressure and habitat destruction; the hunting is closely linked to the proximity of human settlements. The species is an important source of protein for some indigenous and mestizo communities in Mesoamerica. It is frequently kept as a pet.