Yellow-knobbed curassow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellow-knobbed curassow |
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| Male at the Emirates Park Zoo | |
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| Female at the Sylvan Heights Bird Park | |
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| Genus: |
Crax
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| Species: |
daubentoni
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The yellow-knobbed curassow (Crax daubentoni) is a large bird found in Colombia and Venezuela. It belongs to the family Cracidae, which includes birds like chachalacas, guans, and other curassows. These birds are known for living in forests and eating mostly fruits.
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About the Yellow-Knobbed Curassow
The yellow-knobbed curassow is a unique bird. It was once thought to be a type of blue-billed curassow, but scientists now know it's its own species. This bird is the only one of its kind, meaning it doesn't have different subspecies.
What Does It Look Like?
These birds are quite big, usually about 84 to 92.5 centimeters (around 2.7 to 3 feet) long. Males typically weigh between 2.9 and 3.2 kilograms (about 6.4 to 7 pounds). Females are a bit lighter, weighing around 2.3 kilograms (about 5.1 pounds).
The male yellow-knobbed curassow is easy to spot because it has a bright yellow, bumpy area on its beak called a cere and a yellow wattle (a fleshy growth) under its beak. No other curassow has this! Both males and females are mostly black. They have a white lower belly, a white area near their tail, and white tips on their tail feathers. Females have a black cere and light stripes on their chest and lower belly.
Where Do They Live?
You can find the yellow-knobbed curassow in northern Venezuela and parts of northeastern Colombia. They mostly live in forests along rivers, called gallery forests, and in tall, bushy areas in the llanos (a type of grassland). They also live in valleys and ravines in the nearby hills. In Colombia, they are found at elevations between 500 and 1500 meters (about 1,600 to 4,900 feet). In Venezuela, they live at lower elevations, from 100 to 800 meters (about 330 to 2,600 feet).
Behavior and Life
What Do They Eat?
Yellow-knobbed curassows usually look for food in small family groups. During the dry season, you might see larger groups of up to 15 birds feeding together. They mainly eat fruits and seeds. They also eat a small amount of leaves, other plant parts, and even insects. They can find food anywhere, from the ground to the very tops of trees.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
These birds lay their eggs in May and June, which is the start of the rainy season. It seems that one male might mate with several females. They build an oval-shaped nest using branches and vines, lining it with leaves and grass. They usually hide their nests in trees, covered by vines. A female typically lays two eggs.
Sounds They Make
Male yellow-knobbed curassows make a special sound that some people describe as a "bomb-dropping" whistle that goes down in pitch. They sometimes combine this with a wing-clapping display, where they rapidly clap their wings above their back, making sounds like "wapp!, wapp!, wapp!-wapp!-wapp!". They also make a deep "booming" sound, described as "uuumh...uhh".
Status and Conservation
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the yellow-knobbed curassow as Near Threatened. This means their population is getting smaller. The main reasons for this decline are that their homes (habitats) are being destroyed and they are hunted by people.
Gallery
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Male at Hamerton Zoo Park, England
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Female at Philadelphia Zoo, USA
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Female
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Female
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Female
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See also
In Spanish: Pavón moquiamarillo para niños
