The bare-faced curassow is a species of bird in the family Cracidae, the chachalacas, guans, curassows, etc. It is found in Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Bolivia, and extreme northeast Argentina, in the cerrado, pantanal, and the southeastern region of the Amazon basin. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
Region
South-central South America
Typical Environment
Found in Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and extreme northeast Argentina, primarily in the Cerrado, Pantanal, and the southeastern Amazon basin. It favors gallery forests along rivers, semi-deciduous and moist lowland forests, and forest edges embedded in savanna mosaics. It also uses palm-rich woodlands and secondary forests where hunting pressure is low. The species generally avoids heavily degraded habitats and extensive open grasslands without tree cover.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
This large cracid is an important seed disperser in South America's gallery forests and savannas, often swallowing fruits whole and moving seeds across the landscape. Males and females look strikingly different, with males glossy black with a white belly and females boldly barred with rufous tones. It is sensitive to hunting and forest loss, which have reduced populations in parts of its range.
Temperament
shy and wary
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with powerful but brief flights
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups moving quietly through forest edges and along waterways. Pairs are thought to be monogamous, with courtship involving soft calls and crest displays. Nests are built in trees or dense tangles; clutches are small and both parents attend the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations include low, resonant booming notes that carry at dawn and dusk, often given from an elevated perch. They also produce soft whistles, grunts, and clucks used for contact within pairs or family groups.
Plumage
Male glossy black with a curly black crest and contrasting white lower belly and vent; bare facial skin at the base of the bill is yellowish. Female is strikingly barred black-and-white above with rufous to cinnamon tones on the underparts, and has a barred crest; facial skin is bluish-grey. Both sexes have a sturdy bill and long tail.
Diet
Primarily consumes fruits and seeds, especially from palms and other forest trees, often swallowing large fruits whole and regurgitating seeds. Supplements diet with shoots, buds, and leaves, and occasionally invertebrates and small vertebrates. Its fruit-heavy diet makes it an effective disperser of many tree species.
Preferred Environment
Forages on the ground and in the lower to mid canopy near fruiting trees, especially along gallery forests and forest edges in savanna mosaics. Frequently uses river corridors and palm groves where fruit is abundant and cover is available.
