Order
Tinamiformes
Family
Tinamidae
Genus
Nothoprocta
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Brushland Tinamou Nothoprocta cinerascens

John Zeiger
Version: 1.0 — Published November 27, 2013

Appearance

Distinguishing Characteristics

Tinamous are terrestrial birds with very short tails and rounded wings; they superficially resemble tailless quail. Brushland Tinamou is a medium sized tinamou with a long neck, a short crest, and a slightly decurved bill. It has a rotund shape and streaked, cryptic plumage. It is mostly brown above, and the feathers on its back tend to have two thin white streaks, black barring, and gray edging. There are broad black streaks on its hind neck, and long black feathers in its crown that can be temporarily lifted to form a crest.  The breast is gray with white splotches, and its throat and abdomen are whitish. The flanks are a buffy brown, barred with dusky.

Similar Species

There are five other species in the genus Nothoprocta: Taczanowski’s Tinamou (Nothoprocta taczanowskii), Ornate Tinamou (Nothoprocta ornata), Chilean Tinamou (Nothoprocta perdicaria), Andean Tinamou (Nothoprocta pentlandii), and Curve-billed Tinamou (Nothoprocta curvirostris). The distributions of only two of these species, Ornate Tinamou and Andean Tinamou, approach that of Brushland Tinamou; both of these species occur in the Andean highlands, however, whereas Brushland Tinamou is a lowland species. Ornate Tinamou is more ochraceous (less gray) than Brushland Tinamou, has an unspotted gray breast, and lacks the dusky crest of Brushland Tinamou. Andean Tinamou is much smaller than Brushland Tinamou, with darker upperparts, less prominent barring on the flanks, and has yellowish tarsi.

Detailed Description

The following description is based on Blake (1977) and refers to nominate cinerascens; see also Geographic Variation:

Adult: Feathers of crown somewhat elongated, and black, or brown with black centers. Upperparts otherwise mainly grayish to pale olive brown, conspicuously patterned with narrow whitish streaks, black bars, and black vermiculations. Nape and sides of neck often broadly striped with black. Remiges dusky brown, outer webs evenly notched or barred with buffy white. The sides of the head, throat and foreneck are white, heavily spotted or barred with black, especially posteriorly. Breast pale gray or grayish brown, spotted with white. Flanks white, with fine brown barring, and often tinged with buff. Belly white.

Immature: Similar to adult, but browner.

Molts

Undescribed?

Bare Parts

Iris: light brown

Bill: maxilla slate, mandible pale

Tarsi and toes: dark gray or brownish

Bare parts color data from Blake (1977).

Measurements

Total length: 28 cm (Narosky and Yzurieta 1987), 30-33 cm (Blake 1977), 32 cm (Erize et al. 2006).

Linear measurements (from Blake 1977):

cinerascens

male (n = 10)

wing length (flat): mean 183 mm (range 178-190 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 26.7 mm (range 25-30 mm)

female (n = 10)

wing length (flat): mean 186 mm (range 179-194 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 27.4 mm (range 25-31 mm)

parvimaculata

male (n = 4)

wing length (flat): mean 178.7 mm (range 170-185 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 27.7 mm (range 25-30 mm)

female (n = 3)

wing length (flat): mean 181.3 mm (range 177-185 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 26.3 mm (range 24-28 mm)

Mass: male, mean 479 g (range 457-493 g, n = 6; Dunning 2008); female, mean 573 g (range 540-615 g, n = 4; Dunning 2008)

Recommended Citation

Zeiger, J. (2013). Brushland Tinamou (Nothoprocta cinerascens), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.brutin1.01