Chachalacas

Their sounds are something of a cross between my coffee grinder and my stomach on Saturday morning. Our grounds keeper says he has eaten them as his mother has shot them out of the trees. And yes, as you would be guessing, they taste just like chicken. Apparently the flesh is all dark meat. His mother doesn't shoot them any more he says. If you want to see one up close and personal there is one in a cage at La Escollera restaurant just up the hill at the end of La Ropa road.

They sure as hell shouldn't be in cages at that damn restaurant (and that's one reason I don't recommend that place, thanks for the reminder; and people shouldn't be eating them, either).

We have a bunch of them that live around our house in Ixtapa. They like wooded areas. I find their call to be prehistoric and surreal.