Bird Guide

Black Curassow vs Great Curassow

Black Curassow (Crax alector)

Black Curassow

Crax alector

Huge2.9 kgForest

The black curassow is a large bird reaching about 900 millimetres (35 in) in length. The male has black upper parts glossed with a purplish sheen and an inconspicuous black crest. The skin at the base of the grey beak is yellow or orange but there are no knobs and wattles. The underparts are white. The female is similar but the crest is barred with white, and the juvenile is black, barred and mottled with reddish-brown and reddish-buff.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Alberto Apollaro Teleuko · CC BY 3.0
Great Curassow (Crax rubra)

Great Curassow

Crax rubra

Huge4.1 kgForest

At 78–100 cm (31–39 in) in length and 3.1–4.8 kg (6.8–10.6 lb) in weight, this is a very large cracid. Females are somewhat smaller than males. It is the most massive and heavy species in the family but its length is matched by a few other cracids. Three other species of curassow (the northern helmeted, the southern helmeted, and the black are all around the same average length as the great curassow. In this species, standard measurements are as follows: the wing chord is 36 to 42.4 cm (14.2 to 16.7 in), the tail is 29 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in) and the tarsus is 9.4 to 12 cm (3.7 to 4.7 in).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Arthur Chapman · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black Curassow and Great Curassow.