#pipile

Blue-throated Piping Guan (Pipile cumanensis), family Cracidae, order Galliformes, Poços de Caldas, Brazil

The wattle on the neck can be blue, black, purple, or gray.

Blue-Throated Piping Guan by Dick Daniels, CC BY-SA 3.0 

PLEASE SUPPORT US ON PATREON. EACH and EVERY DONATION helps to keep this blog running! Any amount, even ONE DOLLAR is APPRECIATED! IF YOU ENJOY THIS CONTENT, please CONSIDER DONATING!  

Name: Pipile 

Status: Extant 

First Described: 1856

Described By: Bonaparte 

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, Pangalliformes, Galliformes, Cracidae, Penelopinae 

Referred Species: P. jacutinga (Black-Fronted Piping Guan, Extant), P. cujubi (Red-Throated Piping Guan, Extant), P. pipile (Trinidad Piping Guan, Extant), P. cumanensis (Blue-Throated Piping Guan, Extant) 

Pipile is a genus of guans - specifically, the Piping Guans! These birds are very closely related to the genus Aburria, but for now we’re keeping them separate. The Piping Guans probably originated in eastern Bolivia, sometime around 4 million years ago, in the Zanclean age of the Pliocene of the Neogene. It probably started out in the Andes mountains, somewhere in the foothills of Bolivia, and they probably had an extinction event during the Late Pliocene due to brackish lagoon habitats spreading and then receding, destroying their available habitats and majorly affecting their evolution. 

Black-Fronted Piping Guan by Bruno Girin, CC BY-SA 2.0 

The Black-Fronted Piping Guan, P. jacutinga, is an endangered Piping Guan from the forests of south-easter Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Increasingly rare due to habitat destruction, it’s also the only Piping Guan in its range. Large birds, they get up to 74 centimeters in length, and they have small heads, slim necks, and large bodies. They are mainly black, with white streaks on their wings and a white crest on its head, as well as a little red throat wattle. 

Red-Throated Piping Guan by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 

The Red-Throated Piping Guan, P. cujubi, is a nonthreatened species essentially identical to its cousin, but with more of a throat wattle and fewer white patches on the wings. It lives in the tropical lowland forests of Bolivia and Brazil. 

Trinidad Piping Guan by Alastair Rae, CC BY-SA 2.0 

The Trinidad Piping Guan, P. pipile, is a critically endangered species of Guan from only the island of Trinidad. Large, about 60 centimeters in length, and generally resembling a turkey in appearance, it is mainly found in trees and feeding on fruit and flowers and leaves. They have thin necks and small heads, with black feathers and blue skin on their heads, as well as white feathers on their wings. They build their nests in trees, which only the female incubates. Only known from the Northern Forest ranges of Trinidad, it is threatened mainly by illegal hunting, as well as some habitat destruction. Sightings of it are increasingly rare. 

Blue-Throated Piping Guan by Drew Avery, CC BY-SA 3.0 

P. cumanensis, the Blue-Throated Piping Guan, is a non threatened species from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru, as well as possibly northern Bolivia. I tlives mainly in lowland forests as well as those around river habitats. It usually can reach about 69 centimeters in length and, like other Piping Guans, it has a long thin neck and a tiny head. This gives it very weird, almost nonavian proportions and general appearance. Making piping calls during the breeding season, in addition to rattling wings, it allows for the name that all the members of this genus share. Other than the mating season, however, it’s silent. They also are in groups mainly in the breeding season, where they walk together by hopping through the forest canopy. 

Buy the author a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/kulindadromeus

Sources: 

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-fronted_piping_guan 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-throated_piping_guan 

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

Trinidad Piping Guan or Pawi (Pipile pipile), male, family Cracidae, order Galliformes, Trinidad

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

Black-fronted Piping Guan (Pipile jacutinga), family Cracidae, Iguazu, Argentina

ENDANGERED.

White-throated Piping Guan (Pipile grayi), family Cracidae, order Galliformes, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Red-throated Piping Guan (Pipile cujubi), family Cracidae, order Galliformes, found in north-central South America