The grey tinamou (''Tinamus tao'') is a type of ground bird native to South America. Four subspecies are recognised.

Taxonomy

All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also

ratite A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites. The systematics ...

s. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003) The grey tinamou has several subspecies: * ''T. t. larensis'' with a range in the

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s of central

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and northwestern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

.Clements, J (2007) * ''T. t. kleei'' with a range of south-central

, eastern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, eastern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, eastern

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, and western

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. * ''T. t. septentrionalis'' with a range of northeastern

and possibly northwestern

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. * ''T. t. tao'' with a range of north central

, far eastern

, and far northwestern

Description

The gray tinamou is believed to be the largest species among the tinamous. Reported total length is from and possibly as much as .Cabot, J., F. Jutglar, E. F. J. Garcia, P. F. D. Boesman, and C.J. Sharpe (2020). ''Gray Tinamou (Tinamus tao)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. In body mass, males may scale from , averaging , and females can weigh from , averaging and possibly weighing as much as . As suggested by its name, it is mostly grey. The back and head are barred blackish, and its vent is cinnamon. White spotting extends along the head and down the neck.

Distribution and habitat

The grey tinamou is found throughout western and northern

, eastern

east of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, northern

, and

. In most of its range it is essentially restricted to humid lowland forests, but in the northern and far western parts of its range it mainly occurs in

s. This tinamou has shown the ability to utilize forests that have been cleared by logging. As most other

tinamou Tinamous () form an order of birds called Tinamiformes (), comprising a single family called Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" come ...

s, its song is commonly heard, but it is shy and only infrequently seen.

Behavior

Like other tinamous, the male incubates the eggs on the nest that is located in heavy brush on the ground. After incubation, the male will also raise them for the short period of time until they are ready. They eat fruit and seeds from the ground and bushes that are low to the ground.

Conservation

This species was previously considered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

to be a

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

status, and has a range occurrence of In 2012 it was uplisted to vulnerable.

Footnotes

References

* * *

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q933682 Tinamus Tinamous of South America Birds of Bolivia Birds of Brazil Birds of Colombia Birds of Ecuador Birds of the Guianas Birds of Peru Birds of Venezuela Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds described in 1815