Endangered Bird Wattled Curassow Chick Hatches in Houston Zoo, Species Count Now 25

A freshly fledged wattled curassow chick in Houston Zoo brings the overall number of the endangered bird species to 25 in captivity.

Endangered Wattled Curassow

The Houston Zoo has a new dad in its midst, perfect timing for this weekend's Father's Day.

According to a Thursday press release, a rare, and endangered wattled curassow has hatched at the Houston Zoo for the first time in over 30 years.

Since wattled curassows are listed as endangered species, according to the zoo, each hatch is crucial.

The hatchling may be found in the Savanna Aviary within South America's Pantanal, always staying near its parents.

According to the Houston Zoo, the wattled curassow female will incubate the egg while the male guards the nest.

According to ebird.org, the rare birds look like a turkey or a pheasant and have curled crest feathers.

Males have white feathers with a reddish cere, knob, and wattle, as the species name suggests. Females, on the other hand, are red-brown in hue and lack the wattle.

The birds are distinguished by their unusual voice, which produces a high-pitched, falling whistle.

Wattled curassows are so-called because of the brilliant crimson knobs and wattles right on their bills.

Males have more noticeable knobs than females, but both have glossy black plumage, with the male having a white abdomen and the female having a rufous or rust-colored abdomen.

On top of their heads, each has a crest of curly feathers. The female has a shorter crest. It is used expressively at moments of uneasiness, aggressiveness, or inquisitiveness.

It may not drop to the ground as frequently as other curassows, preferring to travel along horizontal limbs, rendering studies of this bird challenging in the field, according to White Oak Conservation.

Now 25 Birds in Captivity

Wattled curassows are "very rare" in the Amazon jungle and may be found in Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru.

Their natural population is quickly falling because of habitat degradation, hunting, and predation. There are now only 25 wattled curassows in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), with six of them living in the Houston Zoo.

The Houston Zoo, according to the zoo, has been one of the top zoos for successfully breeding wattled curassow chicks and increasing the number of the said bird species in human care over the past 20 years.

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This species is listed as endangered because it has a very tiny population and is thought to be declining rapidly.

Hunting is suspected of being the source of these continued decreases, and effective management is urgently needed.

If the information indicates that population reductions are higher than presently predicted, this species may be upgraded to Critically Endangered in the future, according to BirdLife International.

Houston Zoo

The newly hatched wattled curassow chick is marking the second birth of an endangered species at the Houston Zoo this week.

The zoo announced the birth of its first northern white-cheeked gibbon on Tuesday. The newborn young male gibbon, who has yet to be named, was born on May 30 to gibbons Ting and Max, Houston Chronicle reported.