Sounds and Vocal Behavior

The song of Puna Tinamou is described as a melodious, flute-like kewla-kewla-kewla (Johnson 1965) or "kiula-kiula-kiula ... " (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990); "kuu wee kwaa kuu wee kwaa kuu wee kwaa ..." (Jaramillo 2003); and as "a series of musical notes, somewhat reminiscent of a wood-quail [Odontophorus]: cuDU cuDU cuDU..." (Lane, in Schulenberg et al. 2010). An Aymará name for this tinamou, "kiula", is an onomatopoetic rendering of this call (Johnson 1965); names of this species in Peru, such as quivia, quello, or keu, similarly are based on the call of this bird (Pearson and Pearson 1955). The song typically is given in a chorus by three or more individuals (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990, Jaramillo 2003, Schulenberg et al. 2010), which may last for up minutes at a time (Jaramillo 2003); the chorus may become more complex when more than three individuals are singing (Jaramillo 2003).

For a representative audio recording with sonogram, see audio

Puna Tinamou also may give "a descending sequence of thin wailing whines" when flushed (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990).

Additional audio recordings of vocalizations of Puna Tinamou can be heard at Macualay Library, at xeno-canto, and at Internet Bird Collection.

None reported. Liebermann (1936) reported that, in contrast to many other species of tinamou, the wings of Puna Tinamou do not produce a noise when flushed.