CreatureData

Great curassow

Crax rubra Linnaeus, 1758

VUVulnerablebirds

The great curassow (Crax rubra) is a species in the family Cracidae, order Galliformes. Recorded adults weigh 3.69 kg to 4.2 kg and live up to 24 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Great curassow (Crax rubra)
Photo: lwolfartist · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the great curassow

Weight
3.69 kg – 4.2 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
24 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the great curassow

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Great curassow (Crax rubra)
Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the great curassow live?

Not recorded

What is the great curassow?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The great curassow (Crax rubra) is a large, pheasant-like bird from the Neotropical rainforests, its range extending from eastern Mexico, through Central America to western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Male birds are black with curly crests and yellow beaks; females come in three colour morphs, barred, rufous and black. These birds form small groups, foraging mainly on the ground for fruits and arthropods, and the occasional small vertebrate, but they roost and nest in trees. This species is monogamous, the male usually building the rather small nest of leaves in which two eggs are laid. This species is threatened by loss of habitat and hunting, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "vulnerable".

From the Wikipedia article “Great curassow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_curassow&oldid=1359430257), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the great curassow endangered?

The great curassow is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the great curassow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGalliformes
  5. familyCracidae
  6. genusCrax
  7. SpeciesCrax rubra Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms Crax chapmani, Crax globicera, Crax globifera, Crax hecki

Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • قراز كبيرArabic
  • hoco de carúncula grogaCatalan
  • Du si̱á̱lícjp
  • hoko proměnlivýCzech
  • cwrasow mawrWelsh
  • Stor HokkoDanish
  • KronenhokkoGerman
  • BuckelhokkoGerman
  • TuberkelhokkoGerman
  • granda kraksoEsperanto
  • PajuilSpanish
  • Faisán realSpanish
  • HocofaisánSpanish
  • Pavón GrandeSpanish
  • Pavón norteñoSpanish
  • suurhokoEstonian
  • aarnihokkoFinnish
  • Grand HoccoFrench
  • kudravi hokoCroatian
  • nagy hokkóHungarian
  • BóluhúkurIcelandic
  • Hocco maggioreItalian
  • オオホウカンチョウJapanese
  • didysis kraksasLithuanian
  • Bruine HokkoDutch
  • czubacz zmiennyPolish
  • mutum-grandePortuguese
  • Большой краксRussian
  • hoko hrbozobýSlovak
  • rdeča hokojkaSlovenian
  • Veliki hokoSerbian
  • större hockoSwedish
  • Büyük KraksTurkish
  • Kıvırcık HokkoTurkish
  • кракс великийUkrainian
  • 大凤冠雉Chinese
  • 大鳳冠雉Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the great curassow

Other species in the same genus Crax.

CompareGreat curassow vs Blue-billed curassowGreat curassow vs Bare-faced curassowGreat curassow vs Red-billed curassowGreat curassow vs Black curassow

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the great curassow?

An adult great curassow weighs 3.69 kg – 4.2 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the great curassow endangered?

The great curassow is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the great curassow live?

The great curassow has a recorded lifespan of 24 years.

What kind of animal is the great curassow?

The great curassow (Crax rubra) belongs to the family Cracidae in the order Galliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Great curassow (Crax rubra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-curassow

MLA

“Great curassow (Crax rubra).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-curassow.

BibTeX
@misc{great_curassow_2026,
  title = {Great curassow (Crax rubra)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-curassow},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}