Blue-throated Piping-Guan

The blue-throated piping guan is described as "oddly 'prehistoric' (reptilian)" but "handsome". It is 60 to 69 cm (24 to 27 in) long and weighs about 970 to 1,350 g (2.14 to 2.98 lb). Its neck and tail are long, the neck and head disproportionately thin and small and the tail disproportionately long. The sexes are alike. Most of their plumage is blackish with a greenish blue gloss that is strongest on the shoulders, wings, and tail. Their forehead, crown, and nape are white, as are the fringes of their breast feathers. The outer wing coverts are also white and show as a large patch on the folded wing; the inner coverts have white spots. White to cobalt blue bare skin surrounds the dark reddish brown eye. Bare skin forming a dewlap can be white to cobalt blue, slaty purple, dark purplish gray, or black. Their bill can be pale blue with a black tip or black with a pinkish and blue base. Their legs are reddish, brownish red, or rose.

The blue-throated piping-guan is found in far northwestern Bolivia, eastern Peru and eastern Ecuador, central and eastern Colombia, southern and eastern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northwestern Brazil. It inhabits humid tropical forest of the Amazon Basin including terra firme, várzea, gallery, and semi-deciduous types. In the Guianas it is also found in less forested coastal areas. It almost always occurs within about 100 m (330 ft) of rivers. In elevation it reaches 300 m (980 ft) in Bolivia, 400 m (1,300 ft) in Ecuador, 500 m (1,600 ft) in Colombia, 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Venezuela, and 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in Peru.

The blue-throated piping guan's diet is mostly fruits and leaves. The favored fruit is figs but those of many other plant families are also consumed. During the nesting season it forages in pairs or family groups but outside that season may gather in flocks of up to about 30 birds, especially at salt licks. It typically forages in the canopy or just below it but may feed on the ground under a fruiting tree. The species also engages in geophagy.