Curassow conundrum

The Red-billed Curassow Crax blumenbachii is a cracid endemic to the Atlantic Forest in south-east Brazil. Prized by hunters, it is thought to have become extinct in the Guapiaçu valley, Rio de Janeiro state, during the 1960s. It is now found only in a few isolated forest fragments in Bahia and Espírito Santo states, and currently classified as Endangered by the IUCN, but with as few as 130-170 adults estimated to be remaining in the wild, they are close to qualifying as Critically Endangered.

As part of an action plan set up by IBAMA and SAVE Brasil to save the Red-billed Curassow, REGUA teamed up with CRAX Brasil to reintroduce captive bred birds into the wild. Between 2006 and 2008, 48 birds were released at REGUA and all were ringed and fitted with radio transmitters so they could be tracked. A study by Christine Steiner of Paulista State University (UNESP - campus Rio Claro), and sponsored by the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest Trust, found that the birds ranged widely, some well outside of the reserve. 15 birds are known to have died, the majority due to natural predation and 4 to domestic dogs, and when Christine's study ended, about 18 individuals remained. One pair showed signs of breeding, with the male recorded constructing a nest, before the transmitter batteries died in 2009. Random sightings by guests and rangers become fewer with a lone female hanging around the lodge in 2010 amongst the last to be seen, but others likely remained elsewhere in the forest.

Then a couple of months ago a male Red-billed Curassow suddenly and mysteriously appeared at a property in the village of Estreito located on the very edge of REGUA. REGUA guide Adilei, who lives in Estreito, went to see it and noticed that the bird was unringed and had no radio transmitter. It therefore couldn't possibly be a released bird, so where had it come from? The bird had taken up residence in the local's chicken coop and so on the afternoon of the 14 June Rachel and I went with Raquel and Robert Locke to take a look at it. We wanted to try and establish the birds age, observe its behaviour and ascertain whether it was now being kept captive.

Male Red-billed Curassow, Estreito, 14 June 2012. This bird took up residence in
this chicken coop two months ago.

Fresh plumage and lack of wattles on the lower mandible indicate the bird is an
immature male.

The bird is very wary of approach - always keeping its distance and often hiding behind vegetation, and if approached too closely it became clearly agitated, frequently calling and several times climbed a tree inside the coop for cover. The plumage is very fresh and the lack of red wattles on the lower mandible indicate that it is an immature male, also the caretaker who accompanied us told us that when it first arrived it still had some downy feathers. He also confirmed that they make no attempt to keep it captive and each night the bird sleeps in the tall trees on the edge of the coop.

We watched it for about an hour and during this time it occasionally fed on leaves of plants growing inside the coop and visited the water to drink, but not once did it feed with the chickens. In my view, this is almost certainly offspring from a pair of released curassows. Given that they were found to cover a huge area and only half the released birds were fitted with a radio transmitter, the idea that at least one pair survives on the reserve and this bird represents successful breeding doesn't seem unreasonable.

The bird fed only on plants growing inside the coop.

Generally very wary, when agitated it would call continuously and occasionally
hop into the only large tree in the coop to hide.

It rather nervously ventured into the open to take a drink.