We have all heard of and seen a turkey, but have you ever seen a Great Curassow? They are sometimes called the Tropical Turkey! You will not see one near Thanksgiving though, because they are found in tropical forests.

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The Great Curassow is a large bird much like our domestic turkey and like the turkey it is often hunted for its meat. Males are often pitch-black with curly feathers on top that contrasts with the bright yellow bump on his beak. Females look a lot different from males and can come in a variety of reds, browns, and whites. The main difference being that females lack the bright yellow beak. These large birds can be as tall as 40 in and weigh up to 10 pounds.

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The Great Curassows live in the dense forests of Southern Mexico all the way to Ecuador. It likes to live in forests because the birds build their nests in trees; however it is not a good flier meaning they also spend a good amount on the ground looking for food. Since their nests are built in trees deforestation really affects this species.  Since they highly hunted and deforestation is prevalent in the tropical rainforests it is a vulnerable species. Their population is between 6,700-40,000. The trend of their population is decreasing.

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Great Curassows travel as mates or in small groups and together scavenger for food. Although they are large birds, most of their food consists of fruit and insects. Together they look for danger while scavenging food. These birds are very vocal and will make lots of sounds from low booming notes to high-pitched peeps. When there is danger these birds will try to run rather than fly away.

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These birds are very interesting. For example, every time a female lays an egg she always lays two at a time! The Great Curassow in my opinion is much cooler than our average domestic turkey. I hope that we can help to keep our tropical turkey around.

 

 

Author: Michaella S

Published: 02/2018

 

Bibliography

 

“Great Curassow.” Boreal Forest Animals, thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/birds/Galliformes/Cracidae/Crax-rubra.

“GREAT CURASSOW LIFE EXPECTANCY.” World Life Expectancy, www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/bird-life-expectancy-great-curassow.

“Great Curassow: Tropical Turkey.” American Bird Conservancy, abcbirds.org/bird/great-curassow/.

Hughes, Emma. MacroBird, macroevolution.group.shef.ac.uk/2015/05/the-great-curassow-crax-rubra/.

 

Photo Credit:

www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/bird-life-expectancy-great-curassow.