Red-legged Seriema
The red-legged seriema (Cariama cristata) is a long-legged, crested bird of the grasslands of South America that hunts snakes and lizards on foot. Its relatives include the extinct 'terror birds'.
The red-legged seriema (Cariama cristata) is a long-legged, crested bird of the grasslands of South America that hunts snakes and lizards on foot. Its relatives include the extinct "terror birds".
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Red-legged Seriema in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Evolutionary lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Kin of Terror Birds
Seriemas are the closest living relatives of the phorusrhacids, huge flightless predatory birds that ruled South America for millions of years. Seriemas can fly but prefer to run.
Snake Killers
The seriema seizes prey and beats it against the ground or a rock until dead, then tears it apart. It uses a sickle-shaped claw on the second toe, as a raptor does.
Loud Calls
Its yelping calls carry for kilometers. See Southern Cassowary.
Red-legged Seriema at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Cariama cristata |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Cariamiformes |
| Family | Cariamidae |
| Field Guide group | Evolutionary Oddities (Unique & Disputed Lineages) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Long-legged South American grassland runner with a fan-like frontal crest at the base of a bright red bill and a curved sickle-like claw on the second toe used to pin prey. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2024 |
| Order | Cariamiformes |
| Relatives | Extinct terror birds |
See Also
- Southern Cassowary — another large ground bird
- Common Ostrich — a flightless bird