''Nothoprocta'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s belonging to the

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 ...

family Tinamidae. They inhabit

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), 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 Herbaceo ...

and open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

in western

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, particularly in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. They are poor fliers and spend most of their time on the ground. Their diet includes

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. They nest on the ground, laying large glossy eggs. The eggs are covered with feathers when a potential predator is nearby. They are medium-sized tinamous, long. They have strong legs and fairly long, downcurved bills. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

is mostly grey-brown with intricate black, white and buff markings. The birds have loud, whistling calls.

Species list

There are at least six species in the genus. A seventh species, Kalinowski's tinamou, ''Nothoprocta kalinowskii'', is sometimes recognized but is more likely to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Nothoprocta ornata branickii'', a subspecies of the ornate tinamou. The SACC voted to demote the Kalinowski's Tinamou, on 14 Feb 2007. * ''Nothoprocta taczanowskii'', Taczanowski's tinamou, located in the

of south central

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Clements, J. (2007) * ''Nothoprocta ornata'', ornate tinamou, located in southern and central

, southwestern

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, northern

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 ...

, and northwestern

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 ...

** ''Nothoprocta ornata ornata'' located in southeastern

, northern

, and western

** ''Nothoprocta ornata branickii'' located in central

** ''Nothoprocta ornata rostrata'' located in northwestern

* ''Nothoprocta perdicaria'', Chilean tinamou, located in central

** ''Nothprocta pedicaria pedicaria'' located in north central

** ''Nothprocta pedicaria sanborni'' located in south central

* ''Nothoprocta cinerascens'', brushland tinamou, located in southeastern

, northwestern

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, and northern to central

** ''Nothprocta cinerascens cinerascens'' located in southeastern

, northwestern

, and central

** ''Nothoprocta cinerascens parvimaculata'' located in northwestern

* ''Nothoprocta pentlandii'', Andean tinamou, located in the

of northern and central

, northern

, southwestern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, southwestern

, and western

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii pentlandii'' located in western

, northwestern

, and northern

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii ambigua'' located in southern

and northwestern

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii oustaleti'' located in central and southern

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii niethammeri'' located in central

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii fulvescens'' located in southeastern

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii doeringi'' located in central

** ''Nothoprocta pentlandii mendozae'' located in west central

* ''Nothoprocta curvirostris'', curve-billed tinamou, located in the

of southern

to northern

** ''Nothoprocta curvirostris curvirostris'' located in central

and northern

** ''Nothoprocta curvirostris peruviana'' located in northern and central

Etymology

''Nothoprocta'' comes from two Ancient Greek words: '' nothos'' meaning 'spurious, counterfeit', and '' prōktos'' 'anus'. This combination of words probably has to do with the tail being small and covered with body feathers, therefore looking fake.Gotch, A. F. (1995)

Footnotes

References

* * *Krabbe, Niels & Schulenberg, Thomas S. (2005)
"A mystery solved: the identity and distribution of Kalinowski's Tinamou (''Nothoprocta kalinowskii'')"
''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club'' 125(4): 253-260< *Mata, Jorge R. Rodriguez; Erize, Francisco & Rumboll, Maurice (2006). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of South America: Non-Passerines'', HarperCollins, London. *Perrins, Christopher, ''ed.'' (2004). ''The New Encyclopedia of Birds'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q929516 Bird genera Taxa named by Philip Sclater Taxa named by Osbert Salvin