The undulated tinamou (''Crypturellus undulatus'') is a species of ground bird found in a wide range of wooded habitats in eastern and northern South America.

Etymology

Its generic name ''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'' means small, hidden tail. The

specific Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the final ...

name ''undulatus'' originates from the Latin word ''unda'', meaning "wave", and means "furnished with wave-like markings".

Taxonomy

All ''Crypturellus'' are in the family Tinamidae, thus are classed as

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, making them relatives of the

cassowary Cassowaries (; Biak: ''man suar'' ; ; Papuan: ''kasu weri'' ) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'', in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites, flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones. Cassowaries a ...

emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

and rhea. Unlike these larger birds, however, tinamous still have the ability to fly, albeit somewhat weakly and not for prolonged periods (typically flying up, to perch on branches, when fleeing threats). It is thought that all ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, hence their distant populations in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

; the tinamou is the closest, smallest living relative of these birds.

Subspecies

* ''C. u. manapiare'' is only known, with certainty, from the vicinity of the

Ventuari River The Ventuari River is the largest tributary of the Orinoco in southern Venezuela. The Ventuari flows from south-central Venezuela in the Guiana Highlands southwest into the Orinoco River. It is long and its major tributary is the Manapiare River ...

in northern Amazonas State,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, but probably also occurs in SW Amazonas. * ''C. u. simplex'' occurs in southern

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

(only known from sighting records) and NE

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(east of the Rio Negro and north of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

). * ''C. u. adspersus'' occurs in Brazil (south of the Amazon), from the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. Prior to a drastic increase in illegal gold mi ...

to the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of ...

. * ''C. u. yapura'' occurs from SE

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, eastern

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 ...

, NE and East-Central

Perú 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 ...

, and western Brazil (east to Rio Negro and the

Purús River The Purus River (Portuguese: ''Rio Purus''; Spanish: ''Río Purús'') is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean annual discharge is . The river shares its name with the Alto Purús National Park a ...

). * ''C. u. vermiculatus'' occurs in eastern Brazil, from

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

and

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

and east. * ''C. u. undulatus'' occurs in SE Perú, eastern and northern

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 ...

, the Brazilian

Pantanal The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest Flooded grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but i ...

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

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 ...

. The exact distribution limits of certain subspecies, however, are unclear; notably, the population between the Madeira and Purus Rivers (between the generally-reported range of ''C. u. adspersus'' and ''C. u. yapura'') and the population between the Tapajós and

Araguaia River The Araguaia River ( , Karajá language, Karajá: ♂ ''Berohokỹ'' eɾohoˈkə̃ ♀ ''Bèrakuhukỹ'' ɛɾakuhuˈkə̃ is one of the major rivers of Brazil, and a tributary of the Tocantins River. Geography The Araguaia River comes from ...

s (between the generally-reported range of ''C. u. adspersus'' and ''C. u. vermiculatus'') appear not to have been assigned to subspecies.

Description

The undulated tinamou is about in length, and weighs around . Depending on subspecies, it is overall brownish tinged grey to various extents, and has a strong, black, barred to faint vermiculated pattern on the back and neck (for example, while ''C. u. undulatus'' is relatively rich brown and strongly barred, ''C. u. yapura'' is darker, more grey-tinged, and only has faint vermiculations). It has a whitish throat, and the remainders of its underparts are olive-grey to buff with dark vermiculation on its lower flanks and vent. Its

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

is black above and grey below. The legs and feet are grey, dull yellow, or greenish.

Behavior

The nest of the undulated tinamou consists of a depression on the ground, where the female lays around three glossy vinaceous, pink or light-grey eggs. The incubation time is 17 days in captivity. It feeds on small fruits, seeds and insects. As other tinamous, the undulated tinamou is secretive, and more frequently heard than seen. The song, commonly given throughout the day, consists of a deep, three- or four-noted whistle, which has been described by the

onomatopoetic Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

''com-pra pan'' ("buy bread" in Spanish) or e''u sou jaó'' ("I am undulated tinamou" in Portuguese).

Habitat

The undulated tinamou occurs at altitudes of up to . It occurs in a wide range of wooded habitats, ranging from dense, humid Amazonian forests, to dry, relatively open savanna-woodland. Although most of the range of the undulated tinamou is in the Amazon Basin, significant parts are in drier habitats such as the

Cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

(most of the range of ''C. u. vermiculatus'' is in the Cerrado region). Though generally considered resident, minor seasonal movements between habitats do occur locally.

Conservation

Though heavily hunted in some regions, the undulated tinamou remains common in most parts of its range. 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 it 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 ...

, and its range of occurrence has been estimated to .

References

External links

Undulated Tinamou videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection
Photo of ''Crypturellus u. undulatus''
Eric Gallardo. WikiAves.
Photo of ''Crypturellus undulatus adspersus''
Anselmo d'Affonseca. WikiAves.
Photo of ''Crypturellus undulatus simplex''
Kurazo M. Okada Aguiar. WikiAves.
Photo of ''Crypturellus undulatus vermiculatus''
Geiser Trivelato. WikiAves. *
Sounds
on the xeno canto collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q510118 undulated tinamou undulated tinamou Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds of the Pantanal Birds of Brazil undulated tinamou