curassow Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun large crested arboreal game bird of warm parts of the Americas having long legs and tails; highly esteemed as game and food

Native name in Brazil.

(Zool.) A large gallinaceous bird of the American genera Crax, Ourax, etc., of the family Cracidæ. ✍ The crested curassow (Crax alector) is black, and about the size of a small hen-turkey, with an erectile crest of curled feathers. It ranges from Mexico to Brazil. The galeated curassow or cushew bird (Ourax Pauxi) is similar in size, and has a large, hollow, blue, pear-shaped protuberance on the head.