Current view: Data table and detailed info
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.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
medium |
| Land-mass type |
continent
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: A systematic survey using line transects and camera-trapping in Vale Nature Reserve in 2013 found a population of 325 individuals (Alves et al. 2017a). This roughly equates to 215 mature individuals. The authors extrapolate that the adjacent Sooretama Biological Reserve could hold a population of roughly equal size; however they assume that there is no connectivity between both populations as the highway separating the reserves is likely acting as a barrier to dispersal (Alves et al. 2017a). Further population estimates include 33 individuals (equivalent to 22 mature individuals) in Descobrimento National Park and at least 15 individuals (equivalent to 10 mature individuals) in Una Biological Reserve (Phalan et al. 2020), with an unknown, though likely small, number of individuals at other occupied sites. An extrapolation of the global population based on the findings from Vale Nature Reserve was deemed impossible due to local differences in occupancy rates, carrying capacity and hunting pressure (Alves et al. 2017a). It is however assumed that the forests of Vale and Sooretama combined hold c.90% of the global population (ICMBio 2018). Based on this assumption, the global population is here estimated to number 480 mature individuals.
Trend justification: Formerly widespread, the species has undergone drastic declines in the past and is now restricted to remaining fragments of Atlantic Rainforest in east Brazil. The main drivers of the decline appear to be hunting pressure and habitat destruction. Between 2000 and 2021, c.20% of tree cover has been lost within the species' original range (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). This equates to a rate of tree cover loss of 25% over the past three generations (27.6 years). Even though the exact impact of hunting has not been quantified, it is likely that population declines exceeded 30% over the past three generations, with local extinctions in large parts of the range.
Although the population is now largely restricted to protected areas and locally stable or even increasing as a consequence of intense conservation actions and reintroductions, illegal hunting is still ongoing and assumed to be the most severe threat now (ICMBio 2018, Bernardo 2020, Phalan et al. 2020). Even though exact data on the population trend are lacking it is therefore assumed that the population declines are ongoing, albeit at a slower rate.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Red-billed Curassow Crax blumenbachii. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/red-billed-curassow-crax-blumenbachii on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.
