Solitary Tinamou

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Solitary Tinamou

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Tinamiformes
Family:	Tinamidae
Genus:	Tinamus
Species:	T. solitarius

Binomial name

Tinamus solitarius
(Vieillot, 1819)

Synonyms

Cryptura solitaria (Vieillot, 1819)
Tinamus solitarius pernambucensis Berla, 1946

The Solitary Tinamou Tinamus solitarius is a species of paleognathe ground bird found in lowland humid forest up to 1,200 m altitude. This species is native to Atlantic forest of east Brazil near Pernambuco to Rio Grande do Sul and inland to south Mato Grosso, south-east Paraguay and extreme north-east Argentina.

Formerly, this bird was divided into two subspecies: Tinamus solitarius pernambucensis in north-east Brazil (Pernambuco and Alagoas), and Tinamus solitarius solitarius (Vieillot, 1819) found in south-east Paraguay and extreme north-east Argentina. The former, however, turned out to be not distinct from the nominate but rather individual birds that showed a particular color morph which is now known to also occur elsewhere (Amaral & Silveira 2004).

Notably, the hue of the back varies between olive and rusty, and the intensity of the lower neck's plumage color also varies. The black barring in these areas is more or less strong. pernambucensis refers to yellower birds with much barring, especially on the neck (Cabot 1992).

[edit] Threats

The Solitary Tinamou is currently threatened by the ongoing deforestation caused by urbanisation, industrialisation, agricultural expansion, and associated road-building (Cabot 1992). The population formerly believed to be referred to by pernambucensis is either very rare or already extinct (Cabot 1992, Amaral & Silveira 2004). It has always been fairly rare in historical times, with possibly not more than 6 northern specimens in museums (Amaral & Silveira 2004).

[edit] References

Amaral, Fábio Sarubbi Raposo do & Silveira, Luís Fábio (2004): Tinamus solitarius pernambucensis Berla, 1946 é sinônimo de Tinamus solitarius (Vieillot, 1819). Ararajuba 12(1): 33-41. [Portuguese with English abstract] PDF fulltext

Cabot, José (1992): 2. Solitary Tinamou. In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 1 (Ostrich to Ducks): 127, Plate 6. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5