Pale-browed Tinamou Crypturellus transfasciatus

A poorly known tinamou of the Tumbesian region, this species, named for its characteristic pale eyebrow, is endemic to a relatively small part of western Ecuador and is even more local in northwestern Peru. Pale-browed Tinamou currently is classified as Near Threatened, as its population is suspected to be undergoing a relatively rapid and ongoing decline. Nonetheless, Pale-browed Tinamou remains reasonably common, in suitable habitat, tropical dry forest from the lowlands up to 1500 m. This tinamou appears to tolerate a certain degree of habitat degradation, although it prefers denser vegetation. Both sexes are principally grayer below, with a white throat, and browner over the wings and upperparts, but females are more heavily barred over the back and wing coverts than males. The song is an explosive, rising wheep? At least in Ecuador, the nesting season lasts from November to February, and Pale-browed Tinamou lays up to seven eggs. Little else seems to be known, however, of the natural history of this species.