TINAMOUS   -   TINAMIDAE

Gray Tinamou Tinamus tao tao Pousada Jardim da Amazonia, São José do Rio Claro, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Over 12 years after moving to South America, I finally saw a Gray Tinamou - twice in ten days. The first one was at Cristalino Lodge, but I only got poor photos. This one I chased down the trail until, quite unexpectedly, there was another birder. The tinamou froze and I had my chance. I had to crop the birder's feet out of the photo! While perhaps not technically a brilliant photo, it meant a lot to me. (S7)

Solitary Tinamou Tinamus solitarius Parque Estadual Intervales, São Paulo state, Brazil. This has got to be one of the hardest families to photograph; this is the only species I've managed to get a decent photo of. It was walking around in the open in the middle of a dirt road going through some nice Atlantic Rainforest. (D2)

Great Tinamou Tinamus major peruvianus Yasuní Research Station, Orellana province, Ecudaor. We found this bird roosting about 20 feet over the trail at about 8:00pm. (S6f)

Great Tinamou Tinamus major fuscipennis La Selva OTS, Heredia province, Costa Rica. This one was feeding in a muddy streambed. (S6)

Pale-browed Tinamou Crypturellus transfasciatus Urraca Lodge, Jorupe reserve, Loja province, Ecuador. It was coming in to feed on papaya seeds that had fallen off the fruit feeder above. A Tumbesian endemic, found from western Ecuador to northwestern Peru. (S7)

Pale-browed Tinamou Crypturellus transfasciatus Urraca Lodge, Jorupe reserve, Loja province, Ecuador. A slightly different angle of the same bird as above. (S7)

Ornate Tinamou Nothoprocta ornata rostrata El Infiernillo, Tucumán province, Argentina. Finally! A good tinamou photo. This species is however one of the easiest of the family to see. They live in sparse puna habitat in the Andes from northern Peru through Argentina. (S5)

Chilean Tinamou Nothoprocta perdicaria Nahuelbuta National Park, Region IX, Chile. Endemic to Chile, where it likes fairly open fields with dense cover nearby. (S5)

Andean Tinamou Nothoprocta pentlandii pentlandii El Infiernillo, Tucumán province, Argentina. One of many tinamous that inhabit the Andes. This one is found from Ecuador to Argentina and prefers scrubby areas at moderately high elevations. (S6)

Curve-billed Tinamou Nothoprocta curvirostris curvirostris Yanacocha, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Restricted to the high Andes of Ecuador and Peru, where it is quite local. The entrance road to Yanacocha is by far the most reliable place I know for this bird, where it is often on the roadsides or in fields in the morning. (S5)

Elegant Crested-Tinamou Eudromia elegans (ssp. uncertain) Valdés Peninsula, Chubut province, Argentina. A beautiful and well-named tinamou than can be locally very common. On the Valdés Peninsula it is one of the most commonly encountered species, often seen crossing the road. (S6)