• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species qualifies as Vulnerable because intensive hunting pressure combined with habitat loss and degradation are suspected to have led to rapid population declines, and the species has already been extirpated from some sites.

Population justification
The population size has not been quantified. The species is described as locally common in protected areas, but as generally rare throughout its range (ICMBio 2018, del Hoyo and Kirwan 2020).

Trend justification
Once considered common, the species is now described as rare and has become extinct in coastal Alagoas and Paraíba, with high hunting pressure and habitat loss being the main drivers of the decline (ICMBio 2018, del Hoyo and Kirwan 2020). Tree cover loss within the range amounts to up to 19% over three generations (22.3 years; Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). The impact of hunting has not been quantified, but it is described as severe across the entire range (ICMBio 2018). It is therefore suspected that the combined impacts of tree cover loss, habitat degradation and hunting are causing population declines of 30-49% over three generations.

Penelope jacucaca is endemic to Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Bahia and north-east Minas Gerais, north-east Brazil (Sick 1993). There are no recent records from near coastal areas of Alagoas or Paraíba, as claimed in the past, and the species is considered extinct there.

It is a poorly known and scarce resident of dry, lowland stunted forest, open woodland, caatinga and occasionally campo rupestre (Sick 1993, del Hoyo et al. 1994). It appears to prefer the most humid areas and the proximity of water courses (ICMBio 2018, del Hoyo and Kirwan 2020). It shows some tolerance of degraded and selectively logged habitats (ICMBio 2018, del Hoyo and Kirwan 2020).

The most severe threat to this species is intense hunting pressure even in protected areas. A strong hunting tradition in most parts of the range has led to its being considered either locally extinct or very rare over much of its distribution. A further threat is the loss and degradation of dry forests and arboreal caatinga for agricultural purposes and livestock pastures.

Conservation Actions Underway
The species occurs in several protected areas throughout its range, including Sete Cidades, Serra das Confusões and Serra da Capivara national parks (Piauí), Catimbau National Park (Pernambuco) and Chapada de Diamantina National Park (Bahia; ICMBio 2018). The species is included in a multi-species action plan to reduce habitat loss and hunting pressure for caatinga birds (ICMBio 2019).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Carry out surveys to assess the population size. Conduct research into the extent and level of hunting pressure on the species. Monitor the population trend. Monitor rates of habitat loss. Monitor the extent of hunting.
Improve de facto protection of protected areas within its range. Initiate local awareness campaigns to combat hunting within and outside of protected areas.

65-70 cm. Medium-sized, blackish-brown cracid with a striking white supercilium. Prominent elongated white streaks in the upperwing. Pale legs. Similar spp. None in range.

Text account compilers
Hermes, C.

Contributors
Benstead, P., Develey, P., Keane, A., Kirwan, G.M., Lima, P.C., Olmos, F., Sharpe, C.J., Silveira, L.F. & Symes, A.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-browed Guan Penelope jacucaca. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-browed-guan-penelope-jacucaca on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.