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Black Curassow | Crax alector
Zwarte hokko | Pavón guayanés | Mutum-poranga
The Black Curassow is a large curassow of the rainforest of the Guiana Shield, occurring in the guide area only in eastern Colombia. Male and female look alike: both are black with a white lower belly. A distinctive feature is the coloured cere at the base of the bill, without a knob.
Voice
The male gives a very low, humming sound, often at dusk and at night. Also high whistles as an alarm.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
85–95 cm. Glossy black with a crest of curled feathers and a white lower belly and undertail; the tail has no white tip. The cere at the base of the bill is red in birds in Colombia and western Venezuela, orange-yellow further east; there is no knob. The female resembles the male but has white bars in the crest. Young birds are duller, with fine barring on the wings.
Confusion species
Yellow-knobbed Curassow Crax daubentoni of the north-east has a yellow knob and a white tail tip in the male. Wattled Curassow Crax globulosa has a red knob and red wattles and lives in flooded forest further south. Crestless Curassow Mitu tomentosum is smaller, lacks the crest and has a chestnut lower belly and tail tip. Nocturnal Curassow Nothocrax urumutum is much smaller and rufous.
Habitat
Tall terra firme rainforest, also white-sand forest and forest along rivers, in the lowlands up to about 600 m. It forages on the forest floor for fallen fruit and seeds; it roosts in trees. The nest is a cup of twigs in a tree.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the lowlands east of the Andes, mainly in the east and north-east of the Amazon and Orinoco region. Absent from Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Outside the guide area in southern and eastern Venezuela, the Guianas and northern Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Large, intact forest areas without hunting offer the best chance. Birds walk along trails and riverbanks in the early morning and fly up into the trees when disturbed.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is widespread, but is heavily hunted and has disappeared around settlements and roads; deforestation in the Amazon is reducing its habitat.
Scientific name
Crax alector | Linnaeus, 1766
Linnaeus described the species in 1766 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Crax was introduced in 1758 by Linnaeus. The genus name comes from Greek kra, a humorous abbreviation of kranos, 'helmet', for the head feathers. Linnaeus introduced the name in 1744. The species name comes from Greek alektōr, 'cock'. The specimen the first description was based on came from tropical America.