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Article: Diet of the Chaco Chachalaca.
- Article from:
- Wilson Bulletin
- Article date:
- December 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Wilson Ornithological Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Guans (Penelope) and chachalacas (Ortalis) feed on leaves and fruit and probably are seed dispersers (Delacour and Amadon 1973, Terborgh 1986, Strahl and Grajal 1991). Marion (1976) found that fleshy fruit makes up approximately half of the diet of the Plain Chachalaca (O. vetula), a species also described as herbivorous-frugivorous by Christiansen (1978). Similarly, the Crested Guan (P. purpurascens) is one of the dispersers of wild nutmeg (Virola surinamensis), whose seeds it regurgitates (Howe and Vande Kerckhove 1980). In the forests of Northwest Argentina (El Rey National Park), the Dusky-legged Guan (P. obscura) feeds on various species of fleshy fruit in both summer ...