The sexes look similar, as do immature birds, though the latter are more patterned on head, neck and back.

It is known to breed in November and December, building a platform nest of sticks and laying two white eggs, which are sometimes marked with a few brownish or purple spots.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature rates the species as one of least concern, due to its large range and apparently stable numbers.

[3] Both Hartlaub and Burmeister suggested that Chunga be established as a subgenus of Dicholophus, the genus which already contained the red-legged seriema, based on small differences between the species.

[4] The species name burmeisteri honors Hermann Burmeister, who had provided Hartlaub with information about the bird.

[6] The black-legged seriema is a large bird, measuring some 70–85 cm (28–33 in) in length, and weighing roughly 1.2 kg (2.6 lb).

[7] This makes it one of the largest ground-dwelling birds in the Neotropics; only the red-legged seriema and the rheas are larger.

[8][9] Overall, it is ash-grey in colour, though closer examination shows that the "grey" body feathers are actually finely vermiculated with black and white.

[7] The latters' heads, necks and breasts are barred, and their backs and upperwing coverts are speckled with white.

[13] Its call notes are a series of yelps and barks, said to sound like a turkey, a kookabura or a small dog.

Though similar in general appearance, the black-legged seriema is smaller, and lacks the distinctive frontal crest of its red-legged cousin.

[19][20] The Toba people of Argentina make a poultice of the bird's manure to treat boils and abscesses.

[21] Because of the black-legged seriema's very large range and apparently stable population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers it be a species of least concern.

One study in Argentina found the bird disappeared from parts of its former range once the forest had been fragmented into plots of less than 280 ha (690 acres).