Helmeted Curassow
Pauxi pauxi
Large and unmistakable black curassow with a blue-gray helmet on forehead, red bill and legs, white belly, and white tipped tail. Males and most females similar, but some females are of a brown and barred morph. Generally rare in mature montane forest from low to medium elevations. Often in pairs or small groups walking on the forest floor, foraging on fruits and seeds; when alarmed flies to the upper level of the forest, sometimes calling in alarm and other times staying quiet. Vocal during the breeding season; song is a deep, low pitched series of “uhm…UUUUHm…uuuhm;” alarm call is a deep and dry sneezing sound. No similar species in range.
Identification
It is a large terrestrial black curassow with a small head, large bluish grey casque on forehead, red bill, white-tipped tail feathers, greenish glossed mantle and breast feathers, and white below. Both sexes are similar. Length in adult birds can vary from 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 in). The male, at 3.6 kg (8 lbs), is larger than the female, at 2.6 kg (5.8 lbs). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 36.3 to 42.7 cm (14.3 to 16.8 in), the tail is 30.4 to 36.2 cm (12.0 to 14.3 in) and the tarsus is 8.9 to 11.2 cm (3.5 to 4.4 in). Some rare rufous morph female has a black barred and reddish brown plumage. For some time, it also contained the horned curassow taxa as subspecies. Nowadays its southern congener is considered a distinct species P. unicornis.
Taxonomy
There are two subspecies:<p>Their evolutionary history is not well researched compared to other curassows. The helmeted curassows probably are a lineage of Late Miocene (Tortonian–Messinian, about 8–7 million years ago) origin. This species' present-day distribution suggests that it became isolated some 6 million years ago as its mountain range uplifted. It is not known when gene flow between the subspecies ceased.
- Scientific name
- Pauxi pauxi
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Cracidae
- Genus
- Pauxi
Range and habitat
One of the largest birds in its habitat, the helmeted curassow is distributed in the eastern Andes of Venezuela and Colombia. In a recent study done in Tamá National Natural Park of Colombia, it suggested that the park contains a significant population of helmeted curassow with a population density of 4.8 individuals per square kilometer. Furthermore, it was noted that most of the observed helmeted curassow occupied the lower strata, forest floor and subcanopy, of the forest, where they are vulnerable to poachers during the dry season. The diet consists mainly of seeds, fruits, insects and small animals. The female lays two cream-colored eggs and incubates them for about 30 days.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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