Its crest is flat and blackish, its ventral area buffy, and the tips of its tail feathers are paler than the rest.

[5] The nocturnal curassow is found in middle and upper Amazonia, from far southern Venezuela, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and northeastern Peru into western and central Brazil.

The nocturnal curassow forages singly or in groups of up to four birds, at dawn, dusk, and the few hours after or before them.

Its song is "a series of seven, low-pitched, highly resonant notes...rendered 'hmm-hmm-hmmmm, hmm hmm-hmmm, hmmph!'."

[1] Much of its range in western Amazonia remains intact and its mostly nocturnal habits apparently lead to less hunting pressure than other Cracids experience.