Order
Tinamiformes
Family
Tinamidae
Genus
Nothocercus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Highland Tinamou Nothocercus bonapartei

Vitor Gomes and Guy M. Kirwan
Version: 1.0 — Published February 21, 2014

Systematics

Geographic Variation

Five subspecies recognized:

frantzii, described as Tinamus frantzii Lawrence 1868; type locality Cervantes, Costa Rica

Occurs in the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama.

Differs from the other subspecies by its buffier, less rufescent overall coloration, especially on the underparts. The dark color of crown and nape is reduced, extending little beyond the nape. The under primary coverts are unmarked, or with only faint bars on the innermost coverts (Blake 1977).

intercedens, described as Nothocercus intercedens Salvadori 1895; type locality Frontino, Antioquia, Colombia

Occurs on both slopes of the Western Cordillera of Colombia.

Similar to nominate bonapartei but differs by the paler, more ochraceous buff throat; more olivaceous (less reddish) wings; and by the much less rufescent underparts. Nearest to frantzii in the coloration of the underparts, but throat much paler, less tawny, and under primary coverts extensively barred (Blake 1977).

bonapartei, described as Tinamus bonapartei Gray 1867; type locality valley of Aragua [Venezuela]

Occurs in the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of Colombia, south at least to Cundinamarca; in the Serranía de Perijá; and in the Venezuelan Andes and in the coastal cordillera, east to Aragua.

See Detailed Description.

discrepans, described as Nothocercus bonapartei discrepans Friedmann 1947; type locality Melgar, Tolima, Colombia

Occurs in southern portion of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia.

Similar to nominate bonapartei in size, but "darker, more rufescent, and more uniform above, without any buffy or whitish flecks on the upperparts, except on the wings, the general color of the entire upper parts being Brussels Brown finely vermiculated with blackish (as against Cinnamon Brown, with blackish vermiculations and buffy and whitish flecks in the nominate race), the cheeks and breast also more rufescent than in typical bonapartei" (Friedmann 1947).

plumbeiceps, described as Nothocercus plumbeiceps Lönnberg and Rendahl 1922; type locality Baeza, road to Napo, eastern Ecuador, altitude 5,500 feet

Occurs on the east slope of the Andes of Ecuador and northernmost Peru.

Similar to nominate bonapartei in general coloration, but less rufescent above and overall somewhat darker.

Subspecies


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Nothocercus bonapartei [bonapartei Group]


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Nothocercus bonapartei frantzii

Related Species

The monophyly of the genus Nothocercus is well-supported by analyses of both morphological and genetic characters, although the phylogenetic relationship of Nothocercus to other genera of tinamous is not resolved (Bertelli et al 2002, Bertelli and Porzecanski 2004).

Nothocercus julius (Tawny-breasted Tinamou) is the basal member of the genus; Nothocercus bonapartei is sister to Nothocercus nigrocapillus (Hooded Tinamou) (Bertelli et al 2002, Bertelli and Porzecanski 2004).

Recommended Citation

Gomes, V. and G. M. Kirwan (2014). Highland Tinamou (Nothocercus bonapartei), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.higtin1.01