• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Near Threatened	A3cd+4cd
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	4,710,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	300000 - 2000000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2020-2045
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	8-18%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-25%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-25%	-	-	-
Generation length	8.32 years	-	-	-

Population justification: This species is described as 'uncommon' (Stotz et al. 1996). Surveys have recorded the following population densities: 1.65 individuals /km² in an unhunted area and 0.02 individuals /km² in a hunted site in northeastern Peru (Begazo and Bodmer 1998), 1.8 individuals per km² in unhunted forest in Brazil (Peres et al. 2003), 0.02-1.77 individuals /km² in Bolivia (Martínez and Ayala 2013), 1.63 individuals /km² in terra firme, 3.45 individuals /km² in varzea and 1.11 individuals /km² in igapo forests in Brazil (Haugaasen and Peres 2008), 0.62 and 2.12 individuals /km² in hunted terra firme forest, 5.9, 8.9 and 7.89 individuals /km² in unhunted terra firme forest and 12.18 and 2.73 individuals /km² in seasonally flooded forest in Peru (Endo et al. 2010), and 11.3 (7.4–17.3) individuals /km² in unhunted forest in northern Peru (Barrio 2011).

Based on the first quartile and median of the above population densities, an estimated area of habitat in 2000 of 3,670,000 km² (Global Forest Watch 2021) and assuming between 10 and 40% of habitat is occupied, the population size is tentatively suspected to fall within the range 500,000 - 3,000,000 individuals. This may roughly equate to 300,000 - 2,000,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Over 20 years from 2000-2020, approximately 11% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost from within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2021). Extrapolating this rate over three generations (25 years) to 2020, it is estimated that approximately 13% of tree cover was lost from the species's range. Based on the rate of tree cover loss that occurred over 2016-2020 (Global Forest Watch 2021), it is projected that up to 19% of tree cover may be lost from the species's range over the next 25 years.

Although the species is dependent on forest habitat, the link between habitat loss and its population size is poorly known. The species's abundance is also impacted by hunting in parts of the range (Begazo and Bodmer 1998, Peres et al. 2003, Peres and Palacios 2007, Barrio 2011), which may be contributing to declines.

Overall, the species's population size is suspected to have undergone a reduction of 8-18% over the past three generations, and it is suspected to undergo a reduction of 10-25% over three generations into the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bolivia	extant	native	yes
Brazil	extant	native	yes
Colombia	extant	native	yes
Peru	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Colombia	Estrella Fluvial Inírida

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1350 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Medicine - human & veterinary
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Razor-billed Curassow Mitu tuberosum. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/razor-billed-curassow-mitu-tuberosum on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.