tinamou

/tin"euh mooh'/, n.

any of several birds of the family Tinamidae, of South and Central America, related to the ratite birds but superficially resembling the gallinaceous birds.

[1775-85; < F < Carib tinamu]

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▪ bird order

Introduction

      any of about 47 species of ground-dwelling birds found in Central and South America. Tinamous superficially resemble partridges and quail but have limited flight capability, preferring to walk or run rather than fly. Most inhabit forests, but some live in more open terrain. Drably coloured, tinamous blend into their surroundings, where they generally live alone or in small groups. The tinamou order has long interested scientists because many of the tinamous' features link them to the large flightless birds, or ratites (ratite) (see ostrich, emu, cassowary, and rhea). The name is derived from a term used for the bird by a native tribe of the French Guiana–Suriname border region.

      Tinamous, considered by hunters to be among the finest game birds in terms of sport as well as palatability, are heavily hunted in many parts of South America. Although market hunting has been curtailed by law, it is still practiced in some countries. Frozen tinamous from Argentina were once sold in the United States under the name South American quail. By the late 1990s only two species of tinamou were listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, but habitat destruction and heavy hunting have reduced a large number of populations.

General features

      Tinamous are rather uniform in body proportions and stance. The body is quite heavy, with a high rump outline from an enormous development of rump feathers, which generally hide the extremely short or even rudimentary tail. The species of tinamous range in size from that of the dwarf tinamou (Taoniscus nanus)—about 15 cm (6 inches) long and 150 grams (5 ounces) in weight—to about 50 cm (20 inches) long and 2 kg (4 pounds) in larger species, such as the great tinamou (Tinamus major). The head is small and the bill medium-sized, relatively thin, and slightly downcurved. The short, rounded wings are inconspicuous on the standing bird, and the primary flight feathers are hidden by the full plumage of the flanks. The bare legs are typically rather thick and of medium length. There are three short front toes, with the hind toe either elevated or absent.

      The sexes are alike, except that the female is often slightly heavier and has brighter coloration. Plumage coloration is highly concealing, in spotted or barred patterns of brown, gray, rufous, or tan. The variation in coloration is dependent upon the environment. The crested tinamous of the genus Eudromia have a long and slender crest that the bird directs forward when it is excited. The colour of the legs or of the bill is vivid and diagnostic in several species, such as the yellow-legged tinamou (Crypturellus noctivagus zabele).

Natural history

Locomotion

      Highly adapted for ground dwelling, tinamous normally walk rapidly (especially the savanna species) and can run with amazing swiftness. If forced into extended running, however, they tire quickly and are likely to stumble and fall. They are best able to escape notice by standing motionless with the neck extended or by quietly slipping away, making use of available cover. Some species may crouch or even feign death. They rise in flight only when almost stepped upon. Those that live in open terrain sometimes hide in animal holes, such as the burrows of armadillos.

      The flight of tinamous is clumsy but swift and accompanied by a rumbling or whistling noise produced by the wings. The elegant crested tinamou (Eudromia elegans) of the open tableland of Argentina alternates periods of flapping with short glides. When flushed, forest species sometimes collide with branches and tree trunks and may injure themselves. If forced to make several flights in short succession, tinamous soon become exhausted, apparently because of a low circulation rate, related in turn to the surprisingly small size of the heart and lungs. The flight muscles are well developed, but the circulatory system seems to be insufficient for sustained activity.

      Unlike the gallinaceous, or chickenlike birds (see Galliformes (galliform)), tinamous sleep on the ground at night. Exceptions are members of the genus Tinamus, which roost in trees, choosing horizontal branches or tangled lianas and perching without using the toes.

Vocalizations

      The voices of tinamous are among the strongest and most pleasant of any in the American tropics. They consist of loud but melodious whistles, varying from the long and astonishingly songlike sequence of the brown tinamou (Crypturellus obsoletus)—astonishing because most relatives of the tinamous do not produce elaborate vocalizations—to the monosyllabic call of the cinereous tinamou (C. cinereus). The calls of the male and female are similar but discernibly different to the human ear. Other species sing a series of notes that ascend or descend in pitch. The female solitary tinamou (Tinamus solitarius) has a special call given during the time before egg laying, and another call is uttered by both sexes after perching at dusk. In most species the voice is highly ventriloquial, so that the exact location of the bird is difficult to pinpoint.

Habitat selection and food habits

      Collectively, tinamous are adapted to a wide variety of environments, including dense tropical woodland, thickets, open woodland, savanna, and even the bunchgrass-covered plateaus of the high Andes Mountains, where they occupy the ecological niche generally held by the grouse in other parts of the world. In some forest regions, as many as five species of tinamous have been found to coexist, inhabiting slightly different types of plant communities. The grassland tinamous do not occur north of the Amazon River, where the tinamou niche is occupied by the crested bobwhite (Colinus cristatus), a species of quail.

      The food taken by tinamous varies with the season and habitat. In summer the red-winged tinamou (Rhynchotus rufescens), for example, eats mainly animal material—largely insects, but its mouth is large enough to swallow mice. In the stomach of one bird 707 termites were counted. In winter the red-winged tinamou shifts to vegetation. It occasionally becomes a pest in agricultural areas by using its strong bill to dig up the roots of manioc (see cassava). The small tinamous of the genus Nothura feed primarily on seeds, but the spotted tinamou (Nothura maculosa) occasionally eats ticks in pastures. The forest-inhabiting solitary tinamou generally prefers small fruits and berries, collected on the ground. However, it may also devour a frog when it finds one. The members of the genus Nothoprocta are considered beneficial to agriculture because of their large consumption of insect pests. Young tinamous of all species are more dependent upon insects than are the adults. Unlike the gallinaceous birds, tinamous do not scratch for food, as is evident by their weak toes and short nails; instead, they either turn over leaves and other debris with the bill or dig with it.

Reproduction

      Certain species have well-defined breeding periods, and others breed throughout the year. Courting birds raise their thickly feathered rump and display their brightly coloured undertails. A similar display has been observed in a frightened Crypturellus: the bird presses the breast to the ground, raises the rump, spreads the terminal feathers like a fan, and exhibits the sharply marked underparts. Courting birds have also been observed chasing each other around on the ground. In the ornate tinamou (Nothoprocta ornata) it is the females who perform courtship displays.

      Multiple mating is the rule among tinamous, although a few species maintain stable pairs. All forms of polygamy exist, the conditions varying between and even within species. Many species have uneven sex ratios; preponderance of males seems to be more frequent. The ratio of males to females reaches four to one in the variegated tinamou (Crypturellus variegatus), but is about one to one in the ornate tinamou.

      Tinamous make their nests on the ground by simply pushing aside debris and creating a shallow depression. Nests are often tucked beneath a shock of overhanging grass, under a treetop that has fallen to the ground, or between the buttresses of a large tree. It is the male who both constructs and defends the nest.

      The eggs are among the most beautiful of all bird eggs, always monochromatic and highly glazed. The colours include light chocolate brown, near black, purple, dark bluish green, light yellowish green, and even red. However, the shell pigments fade when exposed to light. Given the high risk of predation for a ground nest in the tropics, the colour of tinamou eggs is surprising. It is not known why the eggs are so colourful; one hypothesis is that females lay bright eggs to coerce the male to sit on them and obscure them from view. By forcing the male to sit on the eggs, the female can seek additional mates and lay other clutches. More than one hen may place her eggs in a male's nest, thus the clutch may become quite large, numbering from 8 to 16 eggs.

      Incubation, which lasts 17 to 21 days, is done entirely by the male, who broods and guides the chicks for several weeks after hatching. The chicks, blotched and streaked like young rheas, are able to run as soon as they are hatched. When frightened, they squat and freeze, becoming almost undetectable.

Paleontology and classification

      Tinamous represent one of the oldest stocks of birds on the South American continent. Three genera of fossil tinamous, of one species each, have been described from a single deposit from the Late Miocene Epoch (about 10 million years ago) of Argentina. The majority of other fossil tinamous, mostly representing species still extant, has been discovered at scattered sites from the Early Pleistocene Epoch (less than one million years ago) of South America.

      Many authors have noted anatomic and biological resemblances between tinamous and rheas (rhea). The structure of the bony palate, an important feature in the taxonomy of ratite birds, quite clearly links the two groups, as does DNA and protein analysis. Thus, most authorities prefer to maintain them in separate orders. Many ornithologists place rheas with ostriches, kiwis, emus, and cassowaries in the order Struthioniformes.

Helmut Sick

Additional Reading

Journal articles include Douglas A. Lancaster, “Biology of the Brushland Tinamou, Nothoprocta cinerascens,” Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 127:271–314 (1964), a study of species that inhabit the lowlands east of the Andes in northern Argentina, living in thorn woods—one of the few comprehensive life histories of the tinamous; W. Beebe, “The Variegated Tinamou, Crypturus variegatus variegatus (Gmeln),” Zoologica, 6:195–227 (1925); K.C. Parkes and G.A. Clark, Jr., “An Additional Character Linking Ratites and Tinamous, and an Interpretation of Their Monophyly,” Condor, 68:459–471 (1966), showing that ratites and tinamous share a conformation of the rhamphotheca not found in other birds; and A.K. Pearson and O.P. Pearson, “Natural History and Breeding Behaviour of the Tinamou Nothoprocta Ornata,” Auk, 72:113–127 (1955), the life history of a tinamou that lives in grass-covered hills of southern Peru at considerable heights in the Andes. See also Emmet R. Blake, Manual of Neotropical Birds, vol. 1 (1977), which includes descriptions, measurements, and distribution of the species.Helmut Sick Ed.

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