Conservation

Choco Tinamou is a poorly known species; it rarely is seen, its southern distributional limit is not documented, and its presence in Panama was not detected at all until 1970. This tinamou is known from only a few localities, and while its distribution no doubt is more continuous than currently is documented, it nonetheless has a small global range. The population is suspected to be declining. Consequently the IUCN Red List conservation status of Choco Tinamou is assessed as Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2015).

At least locally, however, Choco Tinamou is common, as at Ensenada da Utría National Park, Colombia (Porteus and Acevedo 1996).

As is the case with all bird species that are restricted to forest interior, the principal threats faced by Choco Tinamou are the degradation and loss of suitable habitat, from human activities such as road construction, human settlement, logging, and mining activities (BirdLife International 2015). In Colombia, road construction near Ensenada de Utría National Park potentially has increased human access to adjacent unprotected areas of coastal plain forest (BirdLife International 2015). Choco Tinamous presumably also is hunted wherever humans are present (Angehr et al. 2004, BirdLife International 2015), although hunting pressure on this species has not been quantified.