One of the 2 seriemas on WAnimals
Birds · Gruiformes · Cariamidae
Red-legged Seriema
Cariama cristata
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
The red-legged seriema — known in Spanish as seriema de patas rojas, cariama crestada, chuña patirroja, chuña de patas rojas, chuña patas rojas or socori — is a bird of the family Cariamidae and the only representative of the genus Cariama, traditionally included in the order Gruiformes but placed today in an order of its own, Cariamiformes. It is a mainly terrestrial predator. It inhabits the grasslands of Brazil from the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest to Uruguay and northern Argentina. Its range is estimated at 5.9 million km². The species is absent from the Atlantic Forest and from the highlands along the Brazilian coast.
Weight
1.2 kg – 1.5 kg
Size
75 cm – 90 cm
Lifespan
25 years
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
In pairs
Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Fun facts
- It is the closest living relative of the terror birds, the phorusrhacids: flightless predators up to three metres tall with enormous bills, which were the great carnivores of South America for tens of millions of years.
- It kills snakes by beating them repeatedly against the ground or hurling them against a stone, a technique it also applies to lizards and rodents.
- Its song, a rising and falling howl performed as a duet by the pair, carries for kilometres across the cerrado and is one of the most recognisable sounds of the Brazilian interior.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Grassland, cerrado, chaco and open savanna of central and eastern South America
- Sexual maturity
- 3 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 27 days of incubation
- Litter / clutch size
- 2 eggs
Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariama_cristata
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 27 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Red-legged Seriema — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Least ConcernBlack-legged Seriema
Chunga burmeisteri
Red-winged Tinamou
Rhynchotus rufescens
Southern Screamer
Chauna torquata
Smooth-billed Ani
Crotophaga ani
Jabiru
Jabiru mycteria
Least ConcernToco Toucan
Ramphastos toco
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about red-legged seriema.
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