Notes about P. jacucaca

The literature about P. jacucaca is rather sparse, and some of it is difficult to obtain. Even the outstanding "Curassows and Related Birds" by Delacour and Amadon 2004 does not contain much material about the species. Here is a short summary of the information I could find so far.

Systematics

Hellmayr (1929) considered the possibility that P. jacucaca might be conspecific with P. ochrogaster and P. pileata. See Vaurie 1966 for discussion of this suggestion. In Pinto 1938, the jacucaca was even treated as a subspecies of P. superciliaris. In the more recent literature, P. jacucaca is given full species status (see e.g. Vaurie 1966, Blake 1977, Pinto 1978, Sick 1997, Delacour and Amadon 2004).

It has been suggested that P. jacucaca forms a superspecies with P. ochrogaster and P. pileata; see Sick 1997 and Delacour and Amadon 2004.

Morphology

(Reiser 1923) also describes the morphology of the species, and notes on p. 194 that the naked skin around the eye is red ("ziegelrot", brick-red). This might be a mistake he made during writing. Otherwise, it would be an interesting point, because the skin around the eye is normally described as black. See photo above, and also Vaurie 1966, Blake 1977, Mata et al. 2006.

Vocalizations and display

For vocalizations, see here. For wing display, see Olmos 1993.

Distribution

The White-browed Guan is endemic to northeastern Brazil. It has been observed in Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Piaui, Alagoas and Pernambuco. There are also recent records from Minas Gerais.

Habitat

Heinrich Snethlage 1928a observed the species in Maranhão, Piaui and in the Serra da Ibiapaba, which lies partly in Piaui and partly in Ceará. He lists several types of humid and dry forest habitats for P. jacucaca, in particular: Humid forest of "terra firme" ("Festlandsurwald", in Maranhão); dry forest, transitional between humid forest and Caatinga or cerrado ("Monsunwald"); dry palm forest ("Trockener Palmenwald"); and floodplain and gallery forest ("Auenwald und Waldufer") (p. 516). Interestingly, he does not include secondary growth forest or Caatinga.

More recently, the species was found in dry forest, humid forest, secondary growth Caatinga, and low-bush Caatinga; see review in Roos and Tarso Zuquim Antas 2006.

In reserve Mãe-da-lua, the White-browed Guan is regularly seen in secondary arboreal Caatinga (ca. 20 years old, partly also younger or older), and sometimes in the secondary dry and subhumid forest of the hills of the reserve (vegetation about 35 years old, or older) (own observations, 2007, 2008).

In summary, habitats are humid and dry tropical forest, and arboreal and bushy Caatinga. Vegetation can be primary or secondary. Some important questions remain unanswered. For conservation purposes, it would be important to have information about the preferred habitat for breeding, and seasonal habitat preferences. Another question is whether secondary growth arboreal Caatinga, with some water source, would be sufficient for survival of the species. In Ceará, this habitat is easier to find than other habitat types, like primary tropical dry forest, which has become extremely scarce.

Local migrations

H. Snethlage 1928a reported that P. jacucaca undertakes local migrations in search for food (to areas with ripe araçá fruits, for example; p. 541). The author classified P. jacucaca as a "visitant" ("Strichvogel"), i.e. a species which often leaves its normal living grounds, and moves temporarily to other locations, with better living conditions, like food availability (p. 543).

Breeding

According to Snethlage 1928a, the breeding period in northern Maranhão is in October and November (p. 554), and clutch size in Eastern Brazil is 3-4 eggs (p. 573). In Snethlage 1928b, the author relates to have observed, close to "Rio Grajahú" (this seems to be present day Rio Grajaú in Maranhão), in November, a female with four recently hatched chicks. And in April, in Piaui, half-grown juveniles (p. 680).

In reserve Mãe-da-lua, in September 2007, I repeatedly saw a group of three half-grown juveniles, apparently siblings, and probably only a few (3-4?) months old. Because of these sightings, I do not believe that breeding is limited to the onset of the annual rains (normally around january). It seems more likely that breeding takes place throughout much of the rainy season, and chicks perhaps hatch as late as May or June (transition from rainy to dry season).

In Delacour and Amadon 2004, a half-grown bird from Bahia is decribed. The individual was "like an adult in appearance, but the plumage is softer, the colors somewhat muted, and there is some brown on hindneck and more brown on the breast that in the adult." (p. 137)

For breeding in captivity, see Delacour and Amadon 2004, p. 78/79. The authors summarize observations by Bronzini 1946.

Other aspects of behaviour and habits

In 1903, the ornithologist Otmar Reiser participated in an austrian expedition to northeast Brazil. In Piaui, he observed P. jacucaca frequently close to lakes, along river banks, or taking a "bath" in the sand of dry riverbeds. The birds passed much time on the ground, and, when a human approached, tried to avoid detection by crouching down in the sand. It seems that at the time, the White-browed Guan was a common bird, generally known, and much appreciated because of his tasty meat (Reiser 1923).

Hunting

The White-browed Guan is threatened by extinction (IUCN Red List, IBAMA 2003). The principal threat for the species may not be habitat destruction, but hunting. It appears that even where seemingly suitable habitat is available (like in reserve Mãe-da-lua), the Guans are relatively rare.

In rural northeastern Brazil, people do not demonstrate much willingness to protect nature, though many are quite aware of environmental problems. Furthermore, hunting is a long-standing tradition. It is illegal in Ceará, but this does not deter anybody, because the law is not enforced. I remember a conversation with a worker on my farm "Fazenda Canaã". We talked about eating turtles (cágados, Phrynops tuberculatus). I asked the worker whether he would kill and eat a turtle, even if he knew that it was the last turtle in the world. The fellow said in all seriousness: "Yes. Sure. Because if I don't eat the turtle, someone else will."

Conservation measures

So what could stop extinction of the White-browed Guan in the wild? One possibility are privately owned nature reserves, where hunting is efficiently suppressed, because the owner cares (Brooks and Fuller 2006). Reserve Mãe-da-lua could be such a place.

Since Nov. 2006, when "Associação Mãe-da-lua" bought the reserve, we made some progress. With our own means, we can control about half of the reserve, and in this part, guans are regularly seen now, while hunters have all but disappeared. However, to consolidate this initial success, and to protect also the remaining half of the reserve, we need financial support, especially for fencing and guards.

See website of the Cracid Specialist Group, for other cracid conservation efforts in the Americas.

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