Crax rubra
The Great Curassow is a large, ground-dwelling bird with striking sexual dimorphism. Males are predominantly black with a distinctive yellow knob on their bill and a curly crest of feathers on their head. They have a white belly and undertail coverts.
Females exhibit two colour morphs: barred and rufous. Barred females have black and white striped bodies, while rufous females are reddish-brown. Both female types have black-and-white crests and lack the yellow bill knob.
Juvenile males initially resemble the darker-coloured female but soon change to the black of the adult male. They do not, however, feature the yellow knob on the bill of the adult. Juvenile females have similar morphs to adult females.
Length
84cm to 92cm
Wingspan
100cm to 120cm
Weight
3kg to 4.8kg
Woodland
Garden
Wetland
Coastal
Urban
Farmland
Grassland
Desert
Tundra
Rainforest
Mountain
Savanna
Great Curassows inhabit tropical and subtropical rainforests from eastern Mexico through Central America to western Colombia and Ecuador. They prefer undisturbed, mature forests with a dense canopy and open understory.
While primarily found in lowland forests, they can occur at elevations up to 1,900 meters.
Sea level to 1,900 meters
Tropical
This map gives you a rough idea of where you might spot a Great Curassow. The coloured areas show countries where these birds have been seen.
A few things to keep in mind:
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