Cage & Aviary Birds  |  No.5792 Global Budgie Scene
IT’S A CRACID!” If the late Frank Carson had been a
birdkeeper, he’d surely have been a fan of the
characterful Cracidae: the guans, chachalacas and
curassows, near relations of the pheasants and other
gamebirds. Even those names are bursting with
personality, and the birds themselves are a knockout when
viewed in a suitably sizeable aviary.
The chachalacas and guans are smaller and more
arboreal, whereas the curassows are huge – some almost
turkey-sized – and enjoy strutting regally around on the
deck. And it’s the more spectacular curassows that tend to
feature in bird collections. For instance, I’m delighted to
learn from Ron Toft (see page 16) that the splendid
yellow-knobbed curassow (Crax daubentoni) stars at The
Living Rainforest near Newbury, not too far from me.
It's ages since I saw this species in its native habitat on the plains of
Venezuela – land that the late President Chávez ordered to be
made over to cash crops as soon as possible, thereby
abruptly putting this and many other species at risk.
The curassows combine a natural nobility with some
pretty wacky looks – notably, their brightly coloured, even
bizarre-looking headgear. As well as the yellow-knobbed
curassow, you've got the blue-knobbed, the wattled and
the northern helmeted. Ah, the northern helmeted... it was
a male of this species that carved out a place in Cage &
Aviary Birds history when, during a staff visit to Leeds
Castle, it formed an intimate relationship with the right leg
of this magazine’s editor of that time.
I couldn’t possibly say which editor, of course.
■ Ed’s Quote of the Week: “To break the ice, Al’s wife
brought along her giant sloth to meet
us.” That would probably do the trick,
especially at a parrot seminar! See page
19. And enjoy your birds this week.
Per saperne di più
leggere di meno
Come abbonati riceverete i seguenti vantaggi:
• Uno sconto sul prezzo di vendita della rivista
• La vostra rivista viene consegnata ogni mese sul vostro dispositivo
• Non perderete mai un numero
• Siete protetti dagli aumenti di prezzo che potrebbero verificarsi nel corso dell'anno
Riceverete 51 edizioni durante un periodo di 1 anno Cage & Aviary Birds abbonamento alla rivista.
Nota: le edizioni digitali non includono gli articoli di copertina o i supplementi che si trovano nelle copie stampate.
Articoli in questo numero
Di seguito una selezione di articoli in Cage & Aviary Birds No.5792 Global Budgie Scene.