Horned Curassow
Pauxi unicornis
The Horned Curassow (Pauxi unicornis) is a legendary guans, curassows, and chachalaca found only in Bolivia, weighing about 3.7 kg. The horned curassow, or southern helmeted curassow, is a species of bird in the family Cracidae found in humid tropical and subtropical forests.
About the Horned Curassow
The horned curassow, or southern helmeted curassow, is a species of bird in the family Cracidae found in humid tropical and subtropical forests. It was first described by James Bond and Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee in 1939 from a specimen collected in Bolivia, and further birds that were described from Peru in 1971 were thought to be a new subspecies. However, the taxonomical position of the birds found in Peru in 1971 is unclear. The horned curassow as originally described is endemic to Bolivia. It is a large, predominantly black bird with a distinctive casque on its forehead. It is an uncommon bird with a limited range and is suffering from habitat loss, and the International Union for…
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The horned curassow is among the largest cracid species. It measures 85 to 95 cm (33 to 37 in) in length. Body mass in large males is up to 3.7 to 3.9 kg (8.2 to 8.6 lb) and only the great curassow is heavier amongst the cracids, although the black curassow and the closely related helmeted curassow are around the same length. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 38.1 to 40.2 cm (15.0 to 15.8 in), the tail is 31 to 34.8 cm (12.2 to 13.7 in) and the tarsus is 10 to 10.8 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in). It has a distinctive horn or casque on the forehead which projects for over 6 cm (2.4 in).
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: January, September, October, November, with peak activity in October. It is a passage migrant species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Horned Curassow?
- The horned curassow is among the largest cracid species. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Horned Curassow?
- The Horned Curassow is a huge sized bird weighing about 3.7 kg.
- Where can you see a Horned Curassow?
- The Horned Curassow is endemic to Bolivia, which is the only country where it occurs.
- What birds look similar to a Horned Curassow?
- The Horned Curassow is most easily confused with the Sira Curassow and the Helmeted Curassow.
- Is the Horned Curassow endangered?
- The Horned Curassow is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Horned Curassow for real
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