The Black Guan is a large highland bird found from Costa Rica to western Panama. Its black plumage, red eye, and blue bare skin around the face are distinctive.
Its plumage is black, with blue bare skin around the eyes, a bright red iris, and pale red legs. Young birds have browner breasts and bellies.
Black Guans inhabit mountain forests in Costa Rica and Panama. They eat mainly fruit and forage in trees and sometimes on the ground.
In a 1998–1999 study in Costa Rica’s Tilarán mountains, Black Guans were recorded at the 800-metre site only between September and December, documenting seasonal use of lower elevations.
Connecting forests across elevations supports access to seasonal habitats. Habitat loss and hunting are conservation concerns, and restoring connections between cloud-forest fragments has been proposed.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern · Global
Habitat destruction and unsustainable exploitation are pressures. The species occurs in protected areas; population surveys, habitat monitoring and restoration of connections among cloud-forest fragments are conservation priorities.