The (Northern) Helmeted Curassow is a medium-large bird with predominantly glossy black plumage with
greenish metallic sheen, white tail border, red bill and a strange blue-grey egg-like dome on its head which gives it the "helmeted" name.
It is native to western Venezuela and northern Colombia.
The curassow which had previously been thought to be a southern subspecies has now been moved
to a full species (the Horned Curassow, Pauxi unicornis) so the "Northern" is now generally dropped
from the Helmeted Curassow's name.
Male and female have similar appearance. A rufous morph appears occasionally among females of the species,
showing dark barring on the chicken red wings and back while retaining the black head with bluish casque.
There are two regional subspecies.