Rheas, also known as ñandus or South American ostrich, are moderately-sized South American ratites of the order Rheiformes. They are distantly related to the African ostriches and Australia’s emu, with rheas placing just behind the emu in height and overall size.
Flightless birds are birds that, through evolution, lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail. The largest flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird in general, is the ostrich.
The red-winged tinamou is a medium-sized ground-living bird from central and eastern South America. Other common names for the species include perdiz grande, rufous tinamou, and ynambu.
The brown tinamou is a brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.
The variegated tinamou a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions of northern South America.
Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas. It is found in the Altiplano and Patagonia in South America.
The northern cassowary also known as the one-wattled cassowary, single-wattled cassowary, or golden-necked cassowary, is a large, stocky flightless bird of northern New Guinea. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf cassowary and the southern cassowary. It is a member of the superorder Paleognathae.
Palaeognathae is an infraclass of birds, called paleognaths or palaeognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages, termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous. There are 47 species of tinamous, five of kiwis (Apteryx), three of cassowaries (Casuarius), one of emus (Dromaius), two of rheas (Rhea) and two of ostriches (Struthio). Recent research has indicated that paleognaths are monophyletic but the traditional taxonomic split between flightless and flighted forms is incorrect; tinamous are within the ratite radiation, meaning flightlessness arose independently multiple times via parallel evolution.
The puna tinamou also known as Pentland's tinamou, is a member of the most ancient groups of bird families, the tinamous. This species is native to southern South America. The binomial name of the species commemorates the Irish natural scientist Joseph Barclay Pentland (1797–1873) by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1837. The IUCN list this species as Least Concern, with an occurrence range of 590,000 km2 (230,000 sq mi).
The hooded tinamou is a type of ground bird found in forests of Bolivia and Peru.
Berlepsch's tinamou is a type of ground bird found in moist forest in northwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador.
The cinereous tinamou, also known as brushland tinamou, is a type of ground bird found in swamp and lowland forests in northern South America. They have some localized names that have been used by the indigenous people such as in Amazonas where they are called inambu-pixuna, and in Pará, Brazil where they are called nambu-sujo. Also, throughout their range they are called inhambu-preto. Cinereous tinamous have been around for many centuries. They are part of the oldest families of the world today and have fossils discovered dating back tens of millions of years. Their quick reflexes play a role in their ability to survive.
The Brazilian tinamou is a type of tinamou found in tropical moist lowland forest in regions of Amazonian South America.
The thicket tinamou or rufescent tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forests in subtropical and tropical central Mexico.
The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.
The dwarf tinamou, also known as the least tinamou, is a small, superficially partridge-like bird with short tail and wings, found only in Brazil. This tinamou is the only member of the genus Taoniscus and it is considered an endangered species.
The Patagonian tinamou also known as Ingouf's tinamou is a member of one of the most ancient groups of paleognath birds, the tinamous. This species is native to southern South America.
This is a list of the tallest extant birds according to maximum height. Birds range from a tiny bee hummingbird, which is only 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), to the giant African ostrich, almost 280 cm (9.2 ft) in height.
