Crax alberti

(Fraser, 1852)

Vernacular names
English : Blue-billed curassow
French : Hocco d’Albert

Classification
Class : Aves
Order : Galliformes
Family : Cracidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
Adults can reach 92.5 cm in length. Easily recognizable with blue cere and wattles around bill. Male is entirely black with white rump. Female has brown rump and small transversal stripes on wings and breast. Conspicuous crest on head.

Range and habitat
This species is endemic to northern Colombia and lives in forest patches from La Guajira and Magdalena to Antioquia and Boyaca. It lives in humid undisturbed forests in lowlands and foothills, up to 1200 m.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
CITES : Appendix III
Status : The species is extinct in most of its former range because of deforestation and hunting. Less than 700 birds are thought to survive in the wild. Targeted by captive breeding programs in South America and USA.
Ex-Situ Programs : SSP in America

Observation
Dallas World Aquarium (USA), Houston Zoo (USA), Weltvogelpark Walsrode (Germany)

 

Back to “Curassows and New World Quails” page