#chauna

Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata), family Anhimidae, Pantanal, Brazil

Natural History in Zoological Gardens, by Frank E. Beddard. Illustration by Winifred Austen. 1905.

Southern Screamer by Adrian Pingstone, in the Public Domain

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Name: Chauna torquata (Southern Screamer), C. chavaria (Northern Screamer)

Status: Extant

First Described: 1811

Described By: Illiger

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Anhimae, Anhimidae 

Chauna is our second genus of Screamers, and it is a more widespread bird type than Anhima - living in Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela. The two species are essentially divided by the range of the other genus - despite being more closely related to each other than they are to Anhima. The Southern Screamer has a bigger range and is also not threatened with extinction; whereas the Northern Screamer has a more limited range and is considered Near Threatened. 

Northern Screamer by anthrotect, CC BY 2.0

The Northern Screamer, which lives entirely in Colombia and Venezuela, is dark in color with a white ruffle of feathers around its neck and red skin. They are about 88.9 centimeters long, making them a quite large species of screamer. Interestingly enough, they’re rarely kept in captivity such as zoos. 

Southern Screamer by Sharp Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Southern Screamer lives in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, and feeds mainly on plant stems, seeds, and leaves. It’s usually about 81 to 95 centimeters in length and are the heaviest of the screamer species. They live, mainly, in tropical and sub-tropical swamps, and they have webbed feet to aid in swimming, though they prefer the land. Their color changes from brown to white based on season, and in order to mate, the males and females scream loudly at each other and can be heard from up to two miles away. The pair mates for life, and they make nests out of reeds and other aquatic plants near the water’s edge, and lay between two and seven eggs at a time. Though their chicks are able to move about immediately - precocial - they are taken care of by the parents for multiple weeks before fully living on their own. They are not picky eaters and excellent fliers, and that plus their loud scream means they actually are domesticated as guard animals! 

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_screamer 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_screamer 

Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata), family Anhimidae, order Anseriformes, Pantanal, Brazil

Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata), family Anhimidae, order Anseriformes, found in wetlands in central South America

Mainly herbivorous waterfowl, in the same order as ducks and geese, but in a different family.

Screamers prefer to walk/wade through their habitats, instead of swimming. They can swim, but are not as proficient as ducks and geese.