Uncovering titbits for the ladies: Dusky-legged Guan males stomp out food for their females

Guans (Cracidae) are vegetarians that feed mostly on fruits but also consume leaves, fowers, and occasionally invertebrates. They forage mostly by picking food while perched or walking on the ground. I describe here Dusky-legged Guan (Penelope obscura) males that stomp to uncover food in piles of plant litter on the ground. Besides feeding on uncovered titbits, the males feed their mated females that join them on the piles, both by placing food directly in bill or stomping out food that the closely following females pick. Stomping on litter piles to uncover food seems an uncommon and previously unrecorded foraging behaviour. Additionally, uncovering food for following females may be regarded as a type of courtship feeding.