- Pauxi unicornis
Identification
Identification 85-95 cm. Large, black cracid with long frontal casque. All-black, with white vent and tip to tail. Bright red bill and pale blue, long, horn-shaped casque. Casque is shorter and rounder in subspecies koepckeae, which also has only faint white tip to tail. Pale red legs. Female like male, but also has a rufous colour phase. Voice Booming series of four calls, long phrase and final emphatic hmm of c.9 seconds. Alarm call is an explosive disyllabic k-sop. Hints Best located during the booming season (August-December), but separation from booming Razor-billed Curassow Mitu tuberosa is difficult. 2007 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Endangered. Justification This species has been uplisted to Endangered because its population is now estimated to be declining very rapidly owing to hunting and habitat destruction. It also has a small range and is known from few locations in a narrow elevational band, which is subject to habitat loss.
Distribution
Crax unicornis is known from central Bolivia and central and east Peru. The nominate subspecies is known from the adjacent Amboró and Carrasco National Parks, Bolivia. It occurs at densities of up to 20 individuals per km2, and is reliably reported along the length of Carrasco's northern boundary.
Taxonomy
Habitat
It inhabits dense, humid, lower montane forest and adjacent lowland evergreen forest at 450-1,200 m 9. For much of the year it stays above 550 m, but descends in the dry season.
Behaviour
Its diet consists of fruit, seeds, soft plants, larvae and insects. Display songs and pairing have been noted from August9, with a nest found during October. The clutch-size is one, and consequently it has a low reproductive rate.
