curassow

/kyoor"euh soh', kyoo ras"oh/, n.

any of several large, arboreal, gallinaceous birds of the family Cracidae, of South and Central America.

[1675-85; after CURAÇAO]

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Any of numerous tropical American bird species (family Cracidae); strictly defined, one of 7–12 species in which the male is glossy black and has a curled crest of feathers and a brightly coloured bill ornament.

The smaller female is brownish and unornamented. Curassows have delicious flesh and are hunted as game. Large species (measuring up to nearly 40 in. [100 cm] long) include the great curassow (Crax rubra), found from Mexico to Ecuador; the helmeted curassow (Pauxi pauxi), of the Venezuelan and Colombian mountains; and the critically endangered razor-billed curassow (C. mitu), of the Amazon.

Southern helmeted curassow (Crax unicornis)

Albert E. Gilbert

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▪ bird

 any of numerous tropical American birds of the family Cracidae (order Galliformes). Strictly, it refers to 7–12 species in which the male is glossy black (often with white belly) and has a curled crest of feathers and a brightly coloured bill ornament; the female, lacking the ornament, is smaller and brownish. Curassows are game birds with delicious flesh. Large examples (to nearly 100 cm [40 inches]) are the great curassow (Crax rubra), from Mexico to Ecuador; the helmeted curassow (Pauxi pauxi), of the mountains of Venezuela and Colombia; and the razor-billed curassow (C. mitu), of the Amazon, which is critically endangered.

      The chachalacas (chachalaca) comprise 11 species and are the smallest and least arboreal members of the family. Typical is the plain chachalaca (Ortalis vetula), a 50-centimetre species, ranging from the Texas border to Nicaragua. Weighing about 0.5 kg (1 pound), it is brownish with a long green-glossed, white-tipped tail. At dawn and sundown, flocks call together from the treetops with regular, almost metronomic beat.

      Guans (guan) comprise 12 species, lighter in weight and somewhat smaller than related curassows. Strongly gregarious, they have noisy cries heard mainly at night. Sexes look alike. The crested (miscalled purple) guan (Penelope purpurascens), from Mexico to Ecuador and Venezuela, is an important game bird, about 65 cm long and weighing about 2 kg. It is greenish brown, with white spotting below. Several species are endangered.

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