A medley of tree dwellers

Last time, I showed you ground birds. These, by contrast, live in the trees, as proper birds do.

The White-throated Piping Guan, Pipile grayi, is a handsome chap.

I find it surprising that a bird this large (about 69cm long) lives almost entirely in trees, foraging for fruit. It looks like a ground bird, but isn’t. It has a white wattle under its chin:

It is found in a fairly small area, including Eastern Bolivia, Southwest Brazil, and Northern Paraguay. Under pressure from habitat loss and hunting, its population is thought to be in decline, and the IUCN classifies it as Near Threatened. It is still pretty common in the Pantanal, I am glad to say.

Here is a gallery of a few more handsome feathered pinups:

I think you’ve got the picture: the Pantanal is paradise if you like birds, but beware of going with birders if you don’t! You will spend long hours as the sun sets and the cocktail hour beckons, waiting while they admire yet another new species.