Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has a large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence under 20,000 km² combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (under 10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be over 10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (over 30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
The population size has not been quantified, but the taxon is described as localised. The species is thought to tolerate secondary habitats and human activity reasonably well, but is suspected to have undergone declines in some areas owing to hunting pressure: the rate of these declines have not been quantified but are not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion.
Trend justification
The species is thought to tolerate secondary habitats and human activity reasonably well, but is suspected to have undergone declines in some areas owing to hunting pressure: the rate of these declines have not been quantified but are not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion.
Ortalis colombiana is endemic to Colombia, where it has been extirpated from much of its range on the slopes above the Cauca Valley from northern Antioquia south to Cauca, and in the Magdalena Valley from Cundinamarca to Huila (Stotz et al. 1996). The remaining populations are restricted to fragmented pockets of humid forest, forest edge and scrubby woodland from 100 to 2,500 m altitude (Hilty and Brown 1986, Stotz et al. 1996). Despite this, the species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 120,000 km2. It is thought to breed in February (Stattersfield et al. 1998). Habitat within its range has been subject to extensive deforestation although some large areas of humid forest apparently still exist. The middle and lower Magdalena and Cauca valleys have been heavily deforested since the nineteenth century (for agriculture), and clearance of suitable foothills of the middle Magdalena valley has been almost total since the 1950s. The species occurs in the Bosque de Yotoco Reserve (Velasco-Abad in Strahl et al. 1997). The global population size has not been quantified, but although the species is described as 'rare' in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996), it is described as 'abundant' in protected areas in the Cauca Valley (Velasco-Abad in Strahl et al. 1997), and so it is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population size criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. less than 10,000 mature individuals in conjunction with appropriate decline rates and subpopulation qualifiers). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Text account compilers
Rutherford, C.A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Colombian Chachalaca Ortalis columbiana. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/colombian-chachalaca-ortalis-columbiana on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.