The Chilean tinamou (''Nothoprocta perdicaria'') is a type of

tinamou Tinamous () are members of the order Tinamiformes (), and family Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamily, subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes from the Carib la ...

commonly found in high elevation shrubland in subtropical regions of central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

.Clements, J (2007)

Taxonomy

All

tinamous Tinamous () are members of the order Tinamiformes (), and family Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamily, subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes from the Carib la ...

are from the family Tinamidae; in the larger scheme, they are also

ratite Ratites () are a polyphyletic group consisting of all birds within the infraclass Palaeognathae that lack keels and cannot fly. They are mostly large, long-necked, and long-legged, the exception being the kiwi, which is also the only nocturnal ...

s (i.e., birds without a

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

on their

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...

bone), together with the South American rhea ('' Rhea''), the cassowary ( ''Casuarius''), emu (''

Dromaius ''Dromaius'' (from greek language, greek δρομαίυς "runner") is a genus of ratite present in Australia. There is one extant species, ''Dromaius novaehollandiae,'' commonly known as the emu. In his original 1816 description of the emu, Lou ...

''), ostrich ( ''Struthio'') and the kiwis (

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Apterygiformes Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand of the order Apterygiformes. The five extant species fall into the family Apterygidae and genus ''Apteryx''. Approximately the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are the smallest ratites (which a ...

) as close, if not distant, relatives. However, unlike these terrestrial ratites, tinamou can still fly, albeit not for any sustained period or very effectively. Still, all currently extant ratite species evolved from ancient flying birds, with tinamou representing the closest living connections to these species.Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003) Additionally, the tinamou are closely aligned with the extinct giant moa (''

Dinornis The giant moa (''Dinornis'') is an extinct genus of birds belonging to the moa family. As with other moa, it was a member of the order Dinornithiformes. It was endemic to New Zealand. Two species of ''Dinornis'' are considered valid, the Nort ...

'') of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. ''Crypturellus'' is formed from three

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words: ''kruptos'' (meaning covered or hidden), ''oura'' (meaning tail) and ''ellus'' (meaning diminutive). Therefore, ''Crypturellus'' translates loosely to "small, hidden tail".

Subspecies

The Chilean tinamou has two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, as follows: * ''N. p. perdicaria'', the nominate race, occurs in the semi-arid

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

of north-central

;

Atacama The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barren lower slopes ...

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, O'Higgins, Maule and Ñuble Regions. * ''N. p. sanborni'' occurs in south-central

; Maule, Ñuble, Bio-bio, Araucanía Regions, the northern

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

and adjacent

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Distribution and habitat

The Chilean tinamou can be found in the high elevation shrubland at elevation. This species is native to all of

except southern Los Lagos,

Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego ...

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

, Aisén, and Magallanes y Antarctica Chilena.BirdLife International (2008) This tinamou can also be found in arid mountain forests in association with such trees as '' Acacia caven'', ''

Porlieria chilensis ''Porlieria chilensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is endemic to Chile, where it is known as Guayacán and palo santo. It is a small tree or shrub, akin to other members of the genus which are all found in S ...

'' and the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Jubaea chilensis ''Jubaea'' is a genus of palms with one species, ''Jubaea chilensis'', commonly known in English as the Chilean wine palm or Chile cocopalm, and palma chilena in Spanish. It is native to southwestern South America and is endemic to a small area ...

''. It has been introduced to

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

.Jaramillo, A. (2008)

Description

The Chilean tinamou is approximately in length. It is almost tail-less and is stocky in shape. It has a bill that is curved and similar to the

California quail The California quail (''Callipepla californica''), also known as the California valley quail or Valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. These birds have a curving crest, '' plume'' or topknot made of six fea ...

. It has thick, short, pale, yellowish legs. It generally walks upright and has "short tail and tail coverts drooping behind legs." The pattern on its upper body looks striped, but is more complex in detail. It has a buffy face with a dark eyeline that is drooping and a small strip on its cheek, with a lighter colored crown. Its neck is brown and its lower neck has dark spots. It has a complex patterns that streak on the side of the chest, which is grey. The Chilean tinamou, just south of the

Maule Region The Maule Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,6 ...

, has a brownish chest instead of a grey chest and more and reddish brown stripes on its upper body and buttocks. For both regions, it has large wings that cover the body when on ground, and when flying the wings appear large and reddish brown underneath. The wings are also rounded.Jaramillo, Alvaro, 28. It has a loud stride

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

that sounds double-syllabled and sounds like "''sweee weee''." When under stress, it releases a lowering series of whistles that sounds like "''swee wee wee wee''" along with fast-paced wing sounds.

Behavior

The females lay 10-12 glossy eggs in a scrape. The male incubates the eggs and raises the chicks. The eggs are covered with feathers when left unattended. Incubation is around 21 days. The chicks are buff with dark stripes, and run soon after hatching and fly when half-grown. Later in life blue or gray spots may appear.

Conservation

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

classifies the Chilean tinamou as

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

, with an occurrence range of .

Footnotes

References

* * * * * *Hogan, Michael C.(2008
''Chilean Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg
* *Jaramillo, Alvaro. ''Birds of Chile.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press (2003).

External links

Chilean Tinamou videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q860730 Chilean tinamou Birds of Chile Chilean tinamou Chilean tinamou Taxa named by Heinrich von Kittlitz Fauna of the Chilean Matorral Endemic birds of Chile