Breeding

The most detailed information on the reproductive biology of Highland Tinamou is from Schäfer's observations in northern Venezeuela, where breeding occurs from January-June (Schäfer 1954). In Costa Rica, breeding is reported in March, May, June, and July (Wetmore 1965, Stiles and Skutch 1989), but probably extends even later, as Carriker (1910) encountered an adult male with four or five very small chicks in mid September. Specimens in breeding condition are reported from Colombia from March-June and in November (Miller 1963, Hilty and Brown 1986), and a nest in Colombia was found in March (McKay 1980).

The nest site is a leafy depression on the ground, often between the buttress roots of a large tree (Schäfer 1954), or in a crevice on the ground under a fallen log (McKay 1980). The eggs are turquoise, unmarked, and highly glossy (Schäfer 1954, Miller 1963). Usually several females lay their eggs in a single nest, and these eggs are incubated by a single male (Schäfer 1954). The number of eggs in a nest varies from two to seven (Schäfer 1954, Miller 1963), although the range of eggs laid per female is not known. The length of the incubation period is not documented. Males also attend the young after they have left the nest, but the length of the duration of parental care also is not documented.