This large curassow ranges through northern Venezuela and adjacent parts of Colombia. The male is black with an erect crest and a yellow knob on its bill; both sexes have a crest. It feeds on the ground and in trees on plant matter and small animals.
The male is black with a dark green-blue sheen, a white belly, and a large crest of curled feathers. A yellow knob of bare skin rises above the bill. The female also has a crest, with white bars across most of the dark underparts.
The central Venezuelan plains include gallery and semi-deciduous forests as well as open grassland. Radio-tracking showed Yellow-knobbed Curassows spending most of their time in forest.
From November2001 to August2002, researchers tracked four adult females, one adult male and one subadult male. Their home ranges overlapped extensively.
The birds occasionally entered savannas and pasture. The study described good habitat without hunting. Movement records help identify forest habitats relevant to conservation.
IUCN Red List (BirdLife listing) · Near Threatened · Global
BirdLife lists Near Threatened. Tracking in an unhunted Venezuelan study area highlights gallery and semi-deciduous forest use, providing information for habitat conservation.