Birds of Venezuela: Highland Tinamou (Nothocercus bonapartei)

Highland Tinamou
Nothocercus bonapartei Gallina Cuero

Identification: 15-16" (38-41cm). 810g. Bill dusky brown, base of lower mandible flesh; legs dark brown. Rather large, dark, uniform-looking highland tinamou. Crown and nape sooty black; otherwise above rich dark brown, back, wings, and tail dotted buffy white (or occas. almost no spots), flight feathers obscurely barred dusky, throat contrasting buff, neck dark chestnut brown becoming rufescent brown to tawny brown on breast, paler on belly; lower underparts with fine wavy black lines.

Sim. species: Slaty crown and buff throat are good marks. Tawny-breasted Tinamou has chestnut crown, barred upperparts, and white throat. Gray Tinamou is larger and grayer. Also cf. Brown Tinamou.

Voice: Song a loud, bisyllabic, and nasal tuy-onk, or ca’wow, ca. 1/sec, with honking or barking quality; repeated 3-5 times, then a pause, or given over and over for up to 1 min or longer.

Behavior: Like most forest tinamous, shy, solitary, and terrestrial and usually only encountered accidentally. Walks away quietly to avoid detection. Rarely flies unless startled. Feeds on fallen seeds and fruit and some animal matter. Nest a slight leafy depression on gd., usually between buttress roots of large tree; up to 7 (usually 2-3) turquoise eggs; Jan-Jun breeding in Panama788.

Status and habitat: Uncommon and infreq. seen resident on floor of humid and wet montane forest (cloud forest), esp. near ravines and other areas of dense second growth.

Range: 1300-2500m (once to 1000m in Distr. Federal?). Sierra de Perija, Zulia; Andes of Tachira, s Merida, n Trujillo, and Lara (n to Cubiro); Coastal Cordillera in n Carabobo, Aragua, and Distr. Federal (bonapartei). Costa Rica and w Panama; Colombia s in Andes to Peru.