Appearance

Tinamous are stocky terrestrial birds with rounded wings and very short tail. The two species of Tinamotis are very large tinamous with a boldly striped head, and a rufous vent; in addition, these tinamous have a relatively short bill, and only three toes. Puna Tinamou also has more or less olive upperparts, and a narrowly barred breast. The sexes are similar.

Within its geographic range, Puna Tinamou readily is identified by its very large size, boldly striped head, and rufous vent. Puna Tinamou is very similar to Patagonian Tinamou (Tinamotis ingoufi), but there is no geographic overlap between these two species. Furthermore, Puna Tinamou lacks the rufous remiges of Patagonian Tinamou.

The following description is based on Blake (1977):

Adult: Sexes similar. Head boldly patterned. Crown and nape very heavily marked with sooty brown and buffy white, appearing striped. Sides of head and of neck similarly brown and whitish, the pale areas forming two very broad, parallel stripes. Upperparts generally dull grayish brown motttled, spotted (back and rump), and barred (wing coverts and secondaries) with cinnamon buff. Lower back, rump, and rectrices usually strongly suffused with pale yellowish olive. Primaries dull brown, notched on outer webs with pinkish buff. Throat immaculate white or whitish. Breast, sides, and flanks, and also often the upper belly, grayish brown, profusely barred with pale ochraceous buff; the breast darker, often with a rufescent cast. Lower belly, lower flanks, and vent bright cinnamon rufous.

Immature: Similar to adult, but upperparts more heavily spotted; ventral barring sparser and less clearly defined, and rufescent color of belly paler.

Downy chick: The head is boldly striped. Two broad dark stripes, one on each side of the bill, pass dorsal to the eyes. A small white centered patch on the crown extends onto the nape as a thin median line. A stripe from the lores passes through the eye to the auricular region. A malar stripe extends from the gape through the cheeks and onto the side of the neck (Jehl 1971).

Undescribed?

Iris: brown

Bill: brown

Tarsi and toes: pale greenish

Bare parts color data from Blake (1977).

Total length: 39-42.5 cm (Blake 1977), 42 cm (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990, Jaramillo 2003)

Linear measurements (from Blake 1977):

male (n = 5)

wing length (flat): mean 259.6 mm (range 255-262 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 27.7 mm (range 27-38 mm)

female (n = 9)

wing length (flat): mean 251.6 mm (range 240-266 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 26.3 mm (range 240-266 mm)

Mass: 

male, mean 965 g (range 850-1150 g, n = 5; specimens in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley)

female, mean 973.8 g (range 816-1250 g, n = 7;  specimens in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley)

Fiora (1933) reported a mass of 650 g for a single specimen; perhaps this value was taken from a juvenile bird that was not fully grown?