Marail Guan

About the Marail Guan

The marail guan or Cayenne guan (Penelope marail) is a species of bird in the family Cracidae, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. The marail guan was formally described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Statius Müller under the binomial name Phasianus marail. Müller based his account on "Le Marail" from Cayenne that had been described in 1771 by the French naturalist, the Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The marail guan is now one of 15 species placed in the genus Penelope that was introduced in 1776 by the German naturalist Blasius Merrem. The specific epithet and the common name are from Marai, the Carib word for a guan.

Two subspecies are recognised: P. m. jacupeba Spix, 1825 – southeast Venezuela and north Brazil P. m. marail (Müller, PLS, 1776) – east Venezuela and the Guianas The marail guan is 63 to 68 cm (2.1 to 2.2 ft) long. Males weigh 772 to 1,310 g (1.7 to 2.9 lb) and females 770 to 1,450 g (1.7 to 3.2 lb). The back, wings, and central tail feathers of the nominate subspecies are dark with a greenish olive gloss. The outer... Wikipedia →