The Story
I photographed this Colombian Chachalaca (Ortalis columbiana) at the Kairi Lodge Natural Reserve, near Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, in February 2020. It is found only in Colombia, in the Cauca and Magdalena valleys. Groups of up to 20 birds can gather, and their noisy chac-a-lac chorus gives them their name. In the Cauca valley its diet included 26 plant species, mostly fruit. Hunting is its main threat, followed by habitat loss, and it has disappeared from many places where it once lived. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800. Destino Caldas lists the endemic Colombian Chachalaca and the Black-winged Saltator among the special birds that visitors look for at Kairi.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Colombian Chachalaca (Ortalis columbiana) belongs to the family Cracidae (Guans, Chachalacas, and Curassows) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List