Plain Chachalaca

About the Plain Chachalaca

If you have ever been in a Rio Grande Valley woodland at dawn, you know the Plain Chachalaca even if you never saw one - the deafening chorus of "cha-cha-LAW-ka" shouted from the treetops by dueling groups is one of the signature sounds of deep South Texas. The volume of a flock in full cry has to be experienced to be believed.<br><br>The bird itself is large, long-tailed, and olive-brown - built something like a slim turkey crossed with a roadrunner - with a bare red throat patch visible at close range. Chachalacas are the only members of the tropical guan family to reach the United States, and they do so only in the southernmost tip of Texas.<br><br>They travel in noisy troops through the canopy and undergrowth, walking along branches with surprising agility to pluck fruits, buds, and leaves. At feeding stations in places like Bentsen and Santa Ana they become confiding, marching in to dominate the seed like they own the refuge - which, in fairness, they rather do.<br><br>For visiting birders the chachalaca is a must-see Valley specialty; for the locals it is simply the alarm clock.