SPIX’S GUAN

About the Spix’s Guan

Did you know? Many of our Rainforest Expeditions guests spot this striking jungle bird!

Once our Rainforest Expeditions lodge guests watch the sunset from our soaring canopy tower, they never forget it. As the sun sets below the horizon, distant clouds are illuminated by orange and red light, and the sea of the Amazon rainforest shows every shade of green. Flocks of Parakeets screech past on the way to their roosts, Toucans give their yelping call and Red Howler Monkeys roar in the distance. After the sun sets, guests head back to the lodge.  Often, odd yelping noises descend from the canopy. This comes from Spix’s Guan! These unique, turkey-like birds walk along branches high up in the canopy.

The Spix’s Guan (Penelope jacquacu) is an arboreal bird — a tree-dwelling bird — with a similar size and shape to a turkey. The birds have a blue-ish or brown-ish speckled color, with a brilliant red dewlap (loose flap of skin around the chin). You’ll find Spix’s Guans throughout much of the Amazon basin. These funny birds are fairly common in the Tambopata region, and many of our guests spot them around our ecolodges.

To learn about more oddball Amazon birds, check out our blog post: Five Bizarre Birds from Tambopata!

Spix’s Guan Fun Facts

• Strange calls at night: Although the Spix’s Guan isn’t necessarily nocturnal, this weird bird sometimes makes a frightening, yelling noise on moonlit nights.


• Need protected areas: Spix’s Guans are common around our rainforest eco-lodges because hunting is prohibited in these protected areas. But in places with hunting, this large bird becomes an easy target and quickly disappears from such areas.


• Rattling Wings: Like several other members of the same bird family (the Cracidae), this bird’s wings make a rattling sound at dusk and dawn. It does this by stretching out its wings, shaking them as it glides from one tree to another. This rattling display is to attract mates!


• Named after a bird collector: The Spix’s Guan is named after Dr. Johan Baptist Ritter von Spix, a 19th-century scientist who collected birds in Brazil. Dr. Spix obtained the first scientific specimens of the bird.

How to plan your Amazon jungle travel to see the Spix’s Guan and other jungle wildlife

• Visit protected areas: Although the Spix’s Guan has a large range, it’s become rare in many poorly preserved areas. Because of this, the best places to see them are in protected areas, like the Tambopata National Reserve in  Peru.


• Listen for their distinctive yelping calls: Spix’s Guans are very vocal birds and make loud, yelping sounds reminiscent of a small dog. They often make these yelps when alarmed.


• Explore with a trained guide: Visit the secluded Rainforest Expedition lodges in the Peruvian Amazon. One of our experienced guides will help you find them!