Red-legged seriema

Red-legged seriema
Near Goiânia in central Brazil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cariamiformes
Family: Cariamidae
Genus: Cariama
Brisson, 1760
Species:
C. cristata
Binomial name
Cariama cristata
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms

(Genus)

(Species)

  • Microdactylus marcgravii É.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809
  • Palamedea cristata Linnaeus, 1766

The red-legged seriema /sɛriˈiːmə/ (Cariama cristata), also known as the crested cariama /kæriˈɑːmə/ and crested seriema, is a mostly predatory terrestrial bird in the seriema family (Cariamidae), included in the Gruiformes in the old polyphyletic circumscription but recently placed in a distinct order: Cariamiformes (along with three extinct families).

The red-legged seriema is widely distributed in South America, occurring in central and eastern Brazil through eastern Bolivia and Paraguay to Uruguay and central Argentina (south to La Pampa).[2]

Like the black-legged seriema, farmers often use them as guard animals to protect poultry from predators and sometimes human intruders.[3]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Cariama cristata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22692205A93341300. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692205A93341300.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BOW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference drummond was invoked but never defined (see the help page).