SERIEMAS   -   CARIAMIDAE

Red-legged Seriema Cariama cristata Jeremoaba-Canudos road, Bahisa state, Brazil. A pair foraging in an overgrown pasture. The Red-legged Seriema is a characteristic bird of savanna areas of eastern South America, and can be common and approachable where they are not hunted. It's far-carrying song (click for short sample) is very distinctive. There are only two species of seriema in the world today. The other, the Black-legged Seriema (Chunga burmeisteri), lives in the chaco region farther south, and is a much shier bird, rarely seen in the open like the birds pictured here.

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