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Rusty Tinamou | Crypturellus brevirostris
Rosse tinamoe | Tinamú herrumbroso | Inhambu-carijó
The Rusty Tinamou is a medium-sized, rufous tinamou of humid lowland forest in Amazonia and the Guianas. In the guide area it is known only from a few sites in the far east of Colombia and in north-eastern Peru. Like most tinamous it lives hidden on the forest floor and prefers to walk away rather than flush.
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Voice
The voice is poorly described. As in related Crypturellus tinamous it consists of whistles, given mainly at dawn and at dusk.
Recording: Fred-Pansa — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
27–29 cm, with a small head, a short bill and almost no tail. The upperparts, including the wings, are bright rufous with narrow black barring; the crown is chestnut. The throat is white, the breast bright rufous and the belly whitish. The flanks are rufous barred with black. The legs are yellowish grey. The sexes are nearly alike.
Confusion species
Variegated Tinamou Crypturellus variegatus is very similar, but has a blackish crown and nape and a back barred black and buff. Bartlett's Tinamou Crypturellus bartletti is duller, with a dark, greyish-brown head and less rufous in the plumage. Barred Tinamou Crypturellus casiquiare has a grey breast and a back with broad black and buff bars. Little Tinamou Crypturellus soui is smaller and has an unbarred back.
Habitat
Humid, tall lowland forest, both on terra firme and in swampy and seasonally flooded parts, below about 500 m. It walks over the forest floor, feeding on fallen fruit, seeds and small invertebrates. The nest, as in other tinamous, is on the ground; the male incubates the eggs.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia only in the far east, in Guainía. In Peru known from a few sites in the north-eastern lowlands. Absent from Ecuador, Bolivia and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in Brazilian Amazonia, in French Guiana and locally in southern Suriname and Guyana.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Walk slowly along quiet trails in little-hunted lowland forest in the early morning and listen for whistles; tinamous usually walk away before they flush. In the guide area the species is mainly to be expected in the far east of Colombia.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Its habitat lies largely in little-disturbed forest; locally the species is hunted and suffers from forest loss.
Scientific name
Crypturellus brevirostris | (Pelzeln, 1863)
Pelzeln described the species in 1863 as Tinamus brevirostris; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Crypturellus was introduced in 1914 by Brabourne, WWK-H & Chubb. The genus name comes from Greek kruptos, 'hidden', and oura, 'tail', with the Latin diminutive -ellus: 'little hidden tail'. The species name comes from Latin brevis, 'short', and rostrum, 'bill'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Brazil.