Family Tinamous (Tinamidae)
Vulnerable
Grey Tinamou (Tinamus tao)
Taxonomy
French: Tinamou tao German: Taotinamu Spanish: Tinamú tao
Taxonomy:
Tinamus tao
Temminck
, 1815,Pará, Brazil
.Race kleei intergrades with larensis in SC Colombia and with nominate tao in W Brazil#R. Four subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution
T. t. septentrionalis
Brabourne & C. Chubb, 1913 – N & NE Venezuela (S Miranda, Sucre, N Monagas) and (possibly extinct) N Guyana.
T. t. larensis
Phelps, Sr & Phelps, Jr, 1949 – patchily in N & C Colombia (Santa Marta and E Andes) and NW & NC Venezuela (Sierra de Perijá, and Táchira NE to Lara and Distrito Federal).
T. t. kleei
(Tschudi, 1843) – SC Colombia and E Ecuador S through E Peru to N, C & E Bolivia and W Brazil.
T. t. tao
Temminck, 1815 – NC Brazil S of Amazon (E to NW Maranhão and C Goiás).
Descriptive notes
42·5–49 cm; male 1325–1863 g, female 1430–2080 g. The largest tinamou. Nominate race has forehead to hindneck slate-grey with brownish spotting,... read more
Voice
Short hoot, usually singly, rarely a series of up to four, often repeated intermittently for... read more
Habitat
Tropical and subtropical rainforest on E slopes of Andes up to 1900 m, also cloudforest in... read more
Food and feeding
Mainly fruit, also seeds, insects, molluscs and a few small vertebrates.
Breeding
Season Jan–Mar in Colombia, Jun in Venezuela. Nest with 3 eggs found in Mato Grosso, N Brazil, in Aug; in S Ecuador, mating... read more
Movements
Presumably sedentary.
Status and conservation
VULNERABLE. Uplisted from Least Concern in 2012. Generally rather uncommon, throughout its extensive range: for example, very rare and local in Ecuador, rare in Colombia and... read more
Dutch Name
Grijze Tinamoe