Brown Tinamou
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| Crypturellus obsoletus Temminck, 1815 |
The Brown Tinamou (Crypturellus obsoletus) is a dumpy, brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America at altitude up to 2900 m (9500 ft).
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[edit] Subspecies
Its distribution is highly disjunct with the subspecies being distributed as follows:
- Nominate (C. o. obsoletus) occurs in Atlantic forest in south-east Brazil, eastern Paraguay and extreme north-east Argentina.
- C. o. castaneus occurs along the east Andean slopes from north Peru, through Ecuador, to east Colombia.
- C. o. cerviniventris occurs in Coastal mountains of north Venezuela.
Additionally, there are records from north Mato Grosso in Brazil, but it remains unclear which subspecies is involved. Most subspecies occur in highlands, but hypochraceus, griseiventris, and the southern populations of the nominate taxon occur in lowlands. It is uncommon to rare in most of its range, but commoner in south-east Brazil, where it is the most frequently encountered member of its genus.
[edit] Characteristics
The Brown Tinamou is superficially similar to a quail, but unrelated as it, along with other tinamous, belongs in the Paleognathae. It is approximately 25-30 cm in length (10-12 in) and a weight of 350-550 g. (12-20 oz). Depending on the subspecies involved, the upperparts vary from dark sooty-brown to bright chestnut and the underparts, which usually are paler than the upperparts, vary from chestnut to light ochraceous. The subspecies griseiventris is unique in having pale buff-grey underparts. All subspecies can be separated from the superficially similar Little Tinamou by the greyish (rather than whitish) throat. Females are typically larger and more rufescent than the males.
As other tinamous of its genus, it is a shy, ground-dwelling species, which usually is encountered singly or in pairs. It feeds on insects and seeds. The female lays 4-5 deep pink to dark glossy brown eggs on the ground; typically in a small depression at the base of a tree. Its song consists of loud, high-pitches whistles, but exact structure and timbre vary over its range.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Crypturellus obsoletus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Ratites and Tinamous by Davies (2002) ISBN 0198549962
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty (2003) ISBN 0691092508
