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TINAMIDAE - TINAMOUS
Twelve species of ground-dwelling gamebird endemic to the Americas and analagous in their ecological niche to the Old World Partridges. The head is small and the neck thin, giving them a pea-headed appearance. The tail is extremely short and soft, often concealed by elongated upper-tail coverts so that they may appear tail-less. The legs are powerful and stout with three well-developed toes and the hallux either absent or reduced and elevated. The bill is thin, often slightly downcurved and with the nostrils located towards the tip. Though the flight muscles are well-developed and they are capable of an explosive take-off, the inadequate heart and lungs mean that they have limited stamina and frequently collapse exhausted from the air, at which time they can be picked up by hand. Tinamou feathers have a unique structure, the barbules of each feather being joined together rather than hooked on to each other as in other birds, and it is this structure that is responsible for the whistling noise often heard in flight. Tinamous also possess well-developed powder down. The flesh is edible, despite its strange, transparent greenish colouration, and though they breed well in captivity attempts to establish them as a domesticated bird have largely failed. Tinamous have monogamous breeding systems, nesting on the ground and laying some of the most beautiful eggs of all birds. Males possess a penis, females a small phallus in the cloaca - these characteristics are useful for sexing in the breeding season. Plumage is cryptically-coloured.
Tinamus - Large forest tinamou with prominent hallux and 10 tail feathers.
Crypturellus - Small to medium forest tinamous. Shortish bill. Rear side of tarsus smooth and foot with four toes.
Rhynchotus - Large, open-country tinamou. Long, thin, downcurved bill. Reticulate scutes on tarsus.
Nothoprocta - Medium-sized tinamou of Chaco scrub. Bill notably downcurved and foot with four toes.
Nothura - Small to medium-sized open-country tinamous. Bill is short, tail is absent. Foot with four toes. Plumage sandy-brown and cryptically-patterned.
Taoniscus - Tiny, songbird-sized, short-legged tinamou of open-country. Short, curved bill.
Eudromia - Large, Chaco tinamou with long, thin crest. Bill short. Three toes, hallux is absent. Tarsus reticulated.
REFERENCES
Cabot J 1992 - Tinamidae Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 1 - Lynx Edicones.
Campbell B & Lack E 1985 - A Dictionary of Birds - T & AD Poyser.
Davies SJJF 2000 - Ratites and Tinamous - Oxford University Press.
