Grey-legged Tinamou

About the Grey-legged Tinamou

The grey-legged tinamou (Crypturellus duidae), alternatively, the gray-legged tinamou, is a small ground-dwelling bird endemic to the neotropics. It is a rarely seen bird due to its small size and discreet appearance. The grey-legged tinamou was first described by John T. Zimmer in 1938. The grey-legged tinamou, like all tinamous, is in the family tinamidae and the infraclass palaeognathae. In addition, There are 21 species in the genus Crypterellus, all of which are all South American tinamous. There are no subspecies of the grey-legged tinamou; it is monotypic. The genus name, Crypterellus, is formed from three latin or greek words ‘krusptis’ meaning covered or hidden, ‘oura’ meaning tail and 'ellus' meaning diminutive. Therefore, crypterullus means small hidden tail.

There is much debate in the scientific community about the membership of tinamous to the ratite clade. Ratites are an order of large flightless birds that include ostrichs, kiwis, emus, and the extinct moa and elephant bird. Tinamous were historically considered a sister clade to ratites because they did not share the flightless quality of the rest of the group. However, some genetic evidence points to... Wikipedia →