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The Powis (Crax alector)
The Powis (Crax alector), also known as the black curassow, is the largest and the most handsome birds of the family. The seven species are all forest-inhabiting birds the size of turkeys, though not as heavy. They have a crest of strongly re-curved erectile feathers and a bright yellow or orange bill frequently with a fleshly cere or a frontal
protuberance.
The males are usually black, often with white under parts and the females are usually brown and duller in colour. Their preferred place of dwelling is in the tropical zone. They are known to sing on moonlit nights and intermittently during the day.
At 78–100 cm (31–39 in) in length and 3.1–4.8 kg (6.8–11 lb) in weight, this is a relatively large cracid. Females are somewhat smaller than males. It is the most massive and heavy species in the family but its length is matched by a few other cracids.
Four other species of curassow (the Northern Helmeted, the Southern Helmeted, the Black and the Crested) are all around the same average length as the Great Curassow.
In this species, standard measurements are as follows: the wing chord is 36 to 42.4 cm (14 to 16.7 in), the tail is 29 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in) and the tarsus is 9.4 to 12 cm (3.7 to 4.7 in). They have the largest mean standard measurements in the family, but for tail length.
The male is black with a curly crest, a white belly, and a yellow knob on its bill. There are three morphs of female curassow: Barred morph females with barred neck, mantle, wings and tail, rufous morph with an overall reddish brown plumage and a barred tail, and dark morph female with a blackish neck, mantle and tail (the tail often faintly vermiculated), and some barring to the wings.
In most regions only one or two morphs occur, and females showing a level of intermediacy between these morphs are known (e.g. resembling rufous morph, but with black neck and faint vermiculations to wings). This species has a similar voice to several other curassows, its call consisting of a “peculiar” lingering whistle.
A monogamous species, the Great Curassow, is distributed in rainforests from eastern Mexico throughout Central America, to western Colombia and northwest Ecuador. In Mexico, it is absent from drier western coastal forests, but does occasionally occur in dry areas of the Yucatan, Cozumel Island and Costa Rica.
This bird species spends much of its time on the ground, but nests and roosts in the trees. They are gregarious, occurring in groupings of up to a dozen birds, though occasionally birds can be seen alone. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, figs and arthropods. Small vertebrates, may supplement the diet on occasion, including small mammals (such as rodents) and small fledging birds. Unlike other cracids, such as guans, they feed largely on fallen fruit rather than pluck fruit directly from the trees.
The male Curassow may build the nest and attract a female’s attention to it, though in other cases both members of a pair will built the nest structure. Two eggs are typically laid in a relatively small nest (usually made largely of leaves), each egg measuring 9.1 cm × 6.7 cm (3.6 in × 2.6 in) and weighing 200 g (7.1 oz).
The young curassow weighs 123 g (4.3 oz) upon hatching, 2,760 g (6.1 lb) as a half-year-old immature and by a year of age, when fully fledged and independent of parental care, will be about three-quarters of their adult weight at 3,600 g (7.9 lb). This species has been noted for its rather aggressive temperament, which has been regularly directed at humans while the birds are held in captivity.
Undoubtedly, they have this inclination in order to repel natural predators, from both themselves and their offspring. Known natural predators of this species have included Ocelots and Ornate Hawk-Eagles, though chicks and eggs likely have a broader range of predators. When a potential predator is near their offspring, curassows have been noted to engage in a distraction display, feigning injury. When attacking humans, the curassows leap in fluttering flight and scratch about the head, targeting the eyes. The lifespan in captivity has reached at least 24 years.
Due to ongoing habitat loss and overhunting in some areas, the Great Curassow is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Of the smaller subspecies griscomi of Cozumel Island, only a few hundred remain. Its population seems either to have been slowly increasing since the 1980s, or to be fluctuating at a low level; it is vulnerable to hurricanes.
(Source: Wikipedia – The Free Online Encylopedia)
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