Black Tinamou

About the Black Tinamou

The black tinamou (Tinamus osgoodi) is a species of ground bird found in humid foothill and montane forest in the Andes of South America. All tinamous are from the family Tinamidae and members of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Tinamous are the only members of their infraclass that are not ratites, and can even fly, albeit poorly. All paleognaths evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds. This species of tinamou was first described by Henry Boardman Conover in 1949 based on a specimen from Cusco in Peru.

It has two subspecies: T. o. hershkovitzi: Almost entirely restricted to the Colombian Andes, where found at altitudes between 1,400 and 2,100 m (4,600 and 6,900 ft). It is known from the west slope of the East Andes in the Huila Department, and San José de la Fragua on the east slope of the East Andes in the Caquetá Department. Reports from the northern Central Andes in the Antioquia Department in Colombia, and the north-eastern Andes in the Napo and Sucumbíos Provinces in Ecuador likely also involve this subspecies.

T. o. osgoodi: Found on the east slope of the Peruvian Andes in Cuzco, Puno, Madre de Dios, and... Wikipedia →