Indian Crow

This bird, which is commonly referred to as the Indian Crow, comes under the family Cotinga and is more appropriately named the Redruffed Fruitcrow. The technical name of the subspecie or race you see here is Pyroderus scutatus scutatus. There are five known races, all of which are indigenous to South America. The bird in the picture is native to Brazil and is found mostly along the coastline and into the interior near Rio de Janeiro.
The bird in my possession is about the size of our own domestic crow, but it is clearly distinguished from it by the red neck area. There are probably around 300 redtipped feathers on the breast of the Fruitcrow. These feathers have figured into the dressing of classic salmon flies for over 150 years! They are quite rare, owing largely to the fact that the authorities in Brazil and other northern parts of South America do not take kindly to the poaching of these birds. Please do not attempt to go to South America to bring back skins. The jails down there, they say, are not very pleasant!
The Pyroderus scutatus scutatus race is sometimes referred to as the southern race. The four northern races are: orenocensis, granadensis, occidentalis and masoni. There are slight variations between all five subspecies with the scutatus being the most sought after of all the races.
For more information and a couple color plates of these birds, I refer you to David Snow's book "The Cotingas" which was published by Cornell University Press in 1982. You can also learn quite a bit about the birds commonly known as the Blue Chatterers (Genus Cotinga) and the CockoftheRocks (Genus Rupicola).