Alagoas Curassow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iAlagoas Curassow | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||||||
 Extinct in the wild (EW) |
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Mitu mitu Linnaeus, 1766 |
The Alagoas Curassow, Mitu mitu is a large, up to 89cm long, pheasant-like bird with a whitish-tipped red bill, black glossed purplish blue plumage, chestnut under belly, reddish brown iris and fourteen pale brown-tipped tail feathers. It has a unique bare greyish crescent-shaped ear patch, not found in other curassows. The female is a slightly lighter than male.
The rare Alagoas Curassow was first mentioned by German naturalist Georg Marcgraf in 1648. Because of lack of information and specimen, it was considered a same species with the closely related Razor-billed Curassow, until after its rediscovery in 1951 in the Alagoas lowland forests, Brazil. The diet consists mainly of fruits. They can reach an age of more than 24 years in captivity.
Due to ongoing habitat lost, overhunting and very small population size, the Alagoas Curassow is evaluated as Extinct in the Wild on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The last wild Alagoas Curassow was seen and killed in 1984, and possibly 1987 or 1988. The captive population has been extensively hybridized with the Razor-billed Curassow, and there are a few dozen purebred birds left which are being maintained and bred in two privately-owned professional aviaries mainly due to lack of official interest owing to the long-standing doubt about the taxon's validity.
The Alagoas Curassow is protected under Brazillian law and is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2000): Alagoas Curassow. In: Threatened Birds of the World: 132. Lynx Edicions & BirdLife International, Barcelona & Cambridge, UK. ISBN 0946888396
- BirdLife International (2004). Mitu mitu. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 24 Oct 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is extinct in the wild.
- Silveira, Luís Fábio; Olmos, Fábio & Long, Adrian J. (2004): Taxonomy, history, and status of Alagoas Curassow Mitu mitu (Linnaeus, 1766), the world’s most threatened cracid. Ararajuba 12(2): 125-132. PDF fulltext
