Order
Tinamiformes
Family
Tinamidae
Genus
Crypturellus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Slaty-breasted Tinamou Crypturellus boucardi

Vitor Gomes, R. Bribiesca-Formisano, Claudia I. Rodríguez-Flores, Carlos A. Soberanes-González, and Marîa del Coro Arizmendi
Version: 1.0 — Published January 10, 2014

Breeding

Introduction

Breeding of Slaty-breasted Tinamous is reported March-June in southern Mexico (Binford 1989), March-May in Belize (Lancaster 1964b), late March-late July in northern Guatemala (Smithe and Paynter 1963), and March-June (perhaps extending into October) in Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Slaty-breasted Tinamous are polygynous; one male mates with several females, but all females deposit their eggs in a single nest. At one site in Belize, three females, laying at the rate of one egg every 24 hours, can lay a clutch of nine eggs in a period of slightly more than two days (Lancaster 1964b).

Slaty-breasted Tinamous do not build a nest. The eggs are laid on the ground, on a mat of leaves, usually between the buttresses of a tree, but less frequently at the base of a fallen tree or in a vine tangle at ground level. The nest site may form a distinct depression as incubation progresses (Lancaster 1964b).

The single nest followed by Lancaster (1964b) contained 10 eggs. The eggs are purplish pink, unmarked, but highly glazed. Incubation is entirely by the male, and lasted 16 days. Periods of incubation were long (up to almost 47 hours), and the male did not leave the nest unattended for more than 4 hours. When the male did leave the nest, he partially concealed the eggs by tossing some leaves on top of the eggs. The chicks are precocial, and leave the nest within 20 hours of the hatching of the first egg (Lancaster 1964b).

Recommended Citation

Gomes, V., R. Bribiesca-Formisano, C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, and M. d. C. Arizmendi (2014). Slaty-breasted Tinamou (Crypturellus boucardi), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.slbtin1.01