CreatureData

White-crested guan

Penelope pileata Wagler, 1830

VUVulnerablebirds

The white-crested guan (Penelope pileata) is a species in the family Cracidae, order Galliformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.1 kg to 1.42 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

White-crested guan (Penelope pileata)
Photo: Daniesser · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the white-crested guan

Weight
1.1 kg – 1.42 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the white-crested guan

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

White-crested guan (Penelope pileata)
Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet Des Murs (1804-1878) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the white-crested guan live?

Not recorded

What is the white-crested guan?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The white-crested guan (Penelope pileata) is a species of bird in the family Cracidae, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found only in regions of the eastern Amazon basin of Brazil. The species is restricted to the southern riverbank of the Amazon River; also eastwards, the south bank of the Pará River south of Marajó Island at the Amazon River's outlet. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat destruction and in 2012, the species was recategorised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, its conservation status being raised to vulnerable.

From the Wikipedia article “White-crested guan” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-crested_guan&oldid=1380711825), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the white-crested guan endangered?

The white-crested guan is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the white-crested guan classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGalliformes
  5. familyCracidae
  6. genusPenelope
  7. SpeciesPenelope pileata Wagler, 1830
Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • غوان أبيض العرفArabic
  • Белокачулат хуанBulgarian
  • Guan pit-roigCatalan
  • guan de pit rogencCatalan
  • guan pestrýCzech
  • gwân cribwynWelsh
  • Hvidtoppet PenelopehøneDanish
  • WeißschopfguanGerman
  • Blankakrona penelopoEsperanto
  • blankakresta penelopoEsperanto
  • Pava crestiblancaSpanish
  • ruskepugu-lotthokoEstonian
  • شبخروش کاکلسفیدPersian
  • valkotöyhtösakuFinnish
  • Pénélope à poitrine rousseFrench
  • פנלופה לבנת-ציצהHebrew
  • riđoprsi guanCroatian
  • fehérkontyos sakutyúkHungarian
  • Guan crestabiancaItalian
  • シロガシラシャクケイJapanese
  • baltakuodė penelopėLithuanian
  • WitkuifsjakohoenDutch
  • rustnakkehokkoNorwegian
  • penelopa piskliwaPolish
  • jacupirangaPortuguese
  • guano-de-coroa-brancaPortuguese
  • guano-de-crista-brancaPortuguese
  • Jscu-do-nortePortuguese
  • Белохохлая пенелопаRussian
  • šuan hrdzavoprsýSlovak
  • Beloćubi guanSerbian
  • Риђогруди гуанSerbian
  • vitkronad guanSwedish
  • Kızıl Boyunlu GuanTurkish
  • пенелопа тапайськаUkrainian
  • 白頭冠雉Chinese
  • 白顶冠雉Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the white-crested guan

Other species in the same genus Penelope.

NT, Near Threatened
Crested guan (Penelope purpurascens)

Crested guan

Penelope purpurascens

Cracidae

VU, Vulnerable
Cauca guan (Penelope perspicax)

Cauca guan

Penelope perspicax

Cracidae

CompareWhite-crested guan vs White-winged guanWhite-crested guan vs Spix's guanWhite-crested guan vs Crested guanWhite-crested guan vs Andean guan

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the white-crested guan?

An adult white-crested guan weighs 1.1 kg – 1.42 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the white-crested guan endangered?

The white-crested guan is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the white-crested guan?

The white-crested guan (Penelope pileata) belongs to the family Cracidae in the order Galliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). White-crested guan (Penelope pileata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-crested-guan

MLA

“White-crested guan (Penelope pileata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-crested-guan.

BibTeX
@misc{white_crested_guan_2026,
  title = {White-crested guan (Penelope pileata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-crested-guan},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}