Red-legged tinamou

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Red-legged tinamou
CrypturusErythropusKeulemans.jpg
Illustration by Keulemans, 1895
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: Tinamiformes
Family: Tinamidae
Genus: Crypturellus
Species:
C. erythropus
Binomial name
Crypturellus erythropus
(Pelzeln, 1863) [2]
Subspecies [2]

C. e. erythropus(Pelzeln, 1863)
C. e. cursitans
(Wetmore & Phelps, 1956)
C. e. spencei
(Brabourne & Chubb, 1914)
C. e. margaritae
(Phelps & Phelps, 1948)
C. e. saltuarius
(Wetmore, 1950)
Magdalena Tinamou
C. e. columbianus
(Salvadori, 1895)/small>
Colombian Tinamou
C. e. idoneus (Todd, 1919)
Santa Marta Tinamou

Contents

Crypturellus erythropus map.svg
Synonyms
  • Crypturus erythropus

The red-legged tinamou or red-footed tinamou, [3] (Crypturellus erythropus) is a ground-dwelling bird found in the tropics and lower subtropics of northern South America. [4]

Description

The red-legged tinamou is superficially similar to a quail to which it is not related as it, along with other tinamous, belongs in the Paleognathae. Its total length is 27 to 32 cm (11–13 in). Its brownish upper parts and grey chest contrasts clearly with the buff belly. The back and wings are barred, but this is faint (often barely visible) in the males. Additionally, the amount of barring to the upperparts varies among the subspecies. It is the only tinamou in its range with rosy-red legs.

Behavior

As other tinamous, it is recorded infrequently, except by its whistling voice. It has been recorded feeding on seeds, berries, snails, and insects. Little is known about its breeding behavior, but the glossy eggs are pale greyish-lavender with a variable amount of pink suffusion.

Etymology

Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words/parts. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and -ellus a Latin diminutive suffix. Therefore, Crypturellus means small hidden tail. [5]

Taxonomy

All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds. [6]

Red-legged tinamou subspecies are:

The taxonomy, beyond this, remains unclear, with some authorities considering the taxa saltuarius, idoneus, and columbianus as monotypic species rather than subspecies of the red-legged tinamou. The SACC rejected a proposal to elevate these to species status, arguing that the presently available data fail to support the split. [7]

Additionally, several subspecies usually associated with the red-legged tinamou have been associated with other species in the past, especially the thicket tinamou, the Choco tinamou and the yellow-legged tinamou. [7]

Range and habitat

The red-legged tinamou lives in Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, Venezuela and northeastern Brazil, and on Margarita Island. [4] It may also be found in French Guiana. [1] Its favored habitat is dry forest, although it can be found in moist forest and lower elevation shrubland and grasslands. It prefers elevations below 1,300 m (4,300 ft). [8]

Conservation

The red-legged tinamou is uncommon to locally common in most of its range, but the Magdalena tinamou is very rare (perhaps extinct), while the Colombian tinamou is endangered. In both cases the main problem is habitat destruction, but hunting is another issue. The IUCN lists this bird as Least Concern, [1] with an occurrence range of 1,800,000 km2 (690,000 sq mi). [8]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2016). "Crypturellus erythropus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22729569A95231636. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22729569A95231636.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Brands, S. (2008)
  3. Remsen Jr., J. V. (2009)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Clements, J (2007)
  5. Gotch, A. F. (1195)
  6. Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)
  7. 1 2 Remsen Jr., J. V. (2006)
  8. 1 2 BirdLife International (2008)

Related Research Articles

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The little tinamou is a species of tinamou. It is found in Central and South America, as well as on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown tinamou</span> Species of bird

The brown tinamou is a brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.

<i>Crypturellus</i> Genus of birds

Crypturellus is a genus of tinamous containing mostly forest species. However, there are the odd few that are grassland or steppe tinamous. The genus contains 21 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tepui tinamou</span> Species of bird

The tepui tinamou is a type of ground bird found in montane moist forest on tepuis, in southeastern Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Undulated tinamou</span> Species of bird

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pale-browed tinamou</span> Species of bird

The pale-browed tinamou is a type of tinamou found in tropical dry forests in Peru and Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brazilian tinamou</span> Species of bird

The Brazilian tinamou is a type of tinamou found in tropical moist lowland forest in regions of Amazonian South America.

The Colombian tinamou, Crypturellus erythropus columbianus, is a tinamou found in Córdoba, Sucre, Bolívar, and Antioquia in north-central Colombia. Little is known about it. It occurs in lowland moist forest and shrubland at elevation up to 600 m (2,000 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thicket tinamou</span> Species of bird

The thicket tinamou or rufescent tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forests in subtropical and tropical central Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaty-breasted tinamou</span> Species of bird

The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choco tinamou</span> Species of bird

The Choco tinamou or Chocó tinamou is a type of tinamou found in lowland forest and montane forest in subtropical and tropical regions of Colombia and Panama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusty tinamou</span> Species of bird

The rusty tinamou or short-billed tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in swamp forest in tropical regions of South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small-billed tinamou</span> Species of bird

The small-billed tinamou is a type of Tinamou commonly found in dry savanna in Amazonian South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barred tinamou</span> Species of bird

The barred tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forest in subtropical and tropical regions of northern South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tataupa tinamou</span> Species of bird

The Tataupa tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in dry forest in subtropical and tropical regions in southeastern South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brushland tinamou</span> Species of bird

The brushland tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in high-altitude dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of southern South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curve-billed tinamou</span> Species of bird

The curve-billed tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in high-altitude grassland and shrubland habitats in the Andes of South America.

The Santa Marta tinamou, Crypturellus erythropus idoneus, is a subspecies of tinamou that was recognized as a species by most authorities until 2006. It is found in northern South America.

References