The red-legged seriema (Cariama cristata), also known as the crested cariama 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). Like the black-legged seriema, farmers often use them as guard animals to protect poultry from predators and sometimes human intruders.
Taxonomy The red-legged seriema was described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He coined the binomial name Palamedea cristata. The red-legged seriema is now the only species placed in the genus Cariama that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The specific epithet cristata is Latin for "crested", "plumed" or "tufted". The German naturalist Georg Marcgrave used the Latin word Cariama for the red-legged seriema in his Historia naturalis Brasiliae, which was published in 1648. The name is derived from the Portuguese word seriema, which comes from a Tupi word corresponding to çariama, derived from the words çaria (crest) and am (raised).
Description
The red-legged seriema is around 75 to 90 centimetres (30 to 35 in) long and weighs about 1.5 to 2.2 kilograms (3.3 to 4.9 lb), with long legs, necks, and tails. The males are slightly larger than females. It has a greyish-brown plumage, finely barred and vermiculated with dark brown and black; pale brown on the head, neck, and breast; white on belly. The long, broad outer tail has a subterminal black band and a white tip. It has a reddish beak and very long, salmon-coloured legs. The eyes are yellow. Soft feathers emerge from the base of the bill to form a distinctive fan-shaped crest. Many other characteristics are shared with the black-legged seriema (Chunga burmeisteri), the only other living member of its family. Some of these traits are discussed in the Cariamidae article.
Distribution and habitat The red-legged seriema inhabits most of central and eastern Brazil, Paraguay, eastern and southeastern Bolivia, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. It is found at elevations up to 6,600 feet (2,000 m). The red-legged seriema prefers grassland habitat to any other. Though it likes to inhabit lush meadows near rivers, it will not readily move into wetlands or crop fields. It frequents semi-open and fairly dry areas such as thorny scrub and semi-arid woodland regions, savannas and ranchlands, and also hilly grasslands near wooded areas. This species is very typical in Caatinga, Cerrado and Chaco.
Behavior and ecology Seriemas are wary, territorial, and diurnal birds. Generally, the red-legged seriema is sedentary, although there are reports of temperature-related migrations. It is typically seen singly or in pairs, but occasionally in groups of up to four individuals, apparently families. It usually walks on the ground and can easily run faster than a human in its habitat. It will flee a car on foot at speeds up to 25 km/h (15 mph) before flying. Territorial defense may involve agonistic confrontation between individuals, initially characterized by full vocalization duets followed by short runs and flights towards intruders, alternated with claws and beak attacks. In one conflict between two birds, they jumped at each other feet-first, keeping their balance by flapping. This species typically nests on low trees or bushes, so that adults are able to reach the nest from the ground by short hops or flutters rather than by flying. Red-legged seriemas demonstrate an unusual way of hunting vertebrate prey; they pick the prey up with their beak and repeatedly throw it at the ground until it is stunned or dead.
Vocalization Full vocalization by the seriema is mainly done at dawn and to a lesser extent, at dusk. It can also occur irregularly at other times of day. The song has a quality described as "a cross between 'the serrated bark of a young dog and the clucking of turkeys'". At the loudest part of the song, the bird has its neck bent so its head is touching its back. Both members of a pair as well as young down to the age of two weeks sing; often one member of a family starts a song just as another finishes, or two sing simultaneously. The song can be heard several kilometers away; in Emas National Park, Brazil, in 1981–1982, observers often heard four red-legged seriemas or groups singing at once. The full song consists of three sections:
Repeated single notes at constant pitch (1,200 to 1,300 Hz) and duration but increasing tempo Repeated two- or three-note subphrases of slightly higher pitch with increasing tempo Subphrases of up to 10 notes, shorter ones rising in pitch and longer ones falling, two-subphrase combinations increasing in number of notes and tempo and then decreasing in tempo. Their song was sampled by Boards of Canada on their track "Happy Cycling" on their debut album Music Has the Right to Children, which was taken from the Vangelis album La Fête Sauvage.
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