The Cracidae is a small group comprised of only about 30 species and 11 genera. They are then broken down into 3 definitive groups that are Guans, Chachalacas and Curassows. Their physical appearance can be likened to that of turkeys and the pheasants. They are reasonable sized birds that have weight of between 500 grams and 4700 grams that vary across the group with the curassows being the biggest in the three groups.

You are most likely to find them in Central and southern America. Their meal is mainly comprised of seeds, worms and fruits just like any other member of the galliforme family. They can mainly be found in tropical areas and subtropical areas that is; South America and central.

When it comes to their habitat, the guans and the curassows usually live in trees while the Chachalacas in scrub areas. One of their main physical appearances is a long tail that helps with movement. Their length is varied from as low as 38 cm to 1 m. their weight is between 350 g to 4.3 kg. They lay eggs in nests on trees where the female is the one that looks after them. When they hatch, they are taught how to fend for their own food for a few weeks and then are left to do it on their own.

These birds have loud vocals that enable them to alert the others in case there are threats. They also use these vocals during breeding when they want to attract the female along with their beautiful feather colors. They possess beautiful colored wattles and throats that are also used to convince the female to mate with them.

It is believed that the current members of the Cracidae starting evolving in the Paleogene age and through the Miocene. The different and various changes that occurred in topography during that age influenced their distribution throughout the globe. For the curassows and the guan, the river system determined their distribution because they mainly rely on the water basin for their survival.

Like all the other animals, they are at a threat of being extinct due to the numerous human activities. Mostly, this is because of the greenhouse warming that has caused immense climate changes all over the world. Their habitats have been destroyed over time forcing them to move to other areas where they cannot survive. Human activities also involve encroachment which has caused the birds to move away from their comfort zones where they are not likely to thrive in. Game hunting has also been a great contributor to their extinction.

They have plumage that does not have prints, normally brown or glossy very shiny black color that is rather inconspicuous. They have a bill and feet that resemble that of a chicken. Other characteristics are that they have short wings, a wide tail and very strong legs. They are distributed into different species and several other genera according to these.