Colombian tinamou

Colombian tinamou
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Infraclass:	Palaeognathae
Order:	Tinamiformes
Family:	Tinamidae
Genus:	Crypturellus
Species:	C. erythropus
Subspecies:	C. e. columbianus
Trinomial name
Crypturellus erythropus columbianus (Salvadori, 1895)[1]
Synonyms
Crypturellus columbianus (Salvadori, 1895)[1]

The Colombian tinamou, Crypturellus erythropus columbianus, is a tinamou found in Córdoba, Sucre, Bolívar, and Antioquia in north-central Colombia.^[2] Little is known about it. It occurs in lowland moist forest and shrubland at elevation up to 600 m (2,000 ft).

It is sometimes treated as a distinct species, and sometimes as a subspecies of the red-legged tinamou. The SACC rejected a proposal to elevate it to species status, arguing that the presently available data fail to support the split. BirdLife International followed this treatment;^[3] hence the Colombian tinamou has been dropped from the 2007 IUCN Red List.^[4]

Etymology

Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and ellus meaning diminutive. Therefore, Crypturellus means small hidden tail.^[5]

Description

The Colombian tinamou is approximately 30 cm (12 in) in length. It is a medium-sized brownish tinamou. It has a plain brown crown and white throat. Its upper parts are also plain brown with no barring, white notches in the secondaries and wing coverts. Its underparts are paler brown with dark barring near vent. The legs are pinkish-red in color. The Colombian tinamou looks very similar to the red-legged tinamou (Crypturellus erythropus), however the Colombian tinamou is darker and has stronger barring.

Status and conservation

It is threatened by deforestation of the lowlands forests in its range. In recent years, there has been a very rapid loss of habitat in the northern part of the Cordillera Central and the Serranía de San Lucas, where the remaining populations are concentrated. It was uplisted to Endangered (EN A2c+3c) by the IUCN in 2004, after being assessed as Near Threatened since 1988, but as mentioned above it is no longer included in the Red List, where instead considered a subspecies of the red-legged tinamou.

Currently no conservation measures are known. It has been proposed to survey to determine its precise distribution and ecological requirements, and find suitable habitat to protect these birds.

Footnotes

1. Brands, S. (2008)
2. Clements, J (2007)
3. Remsen, Jr. J. V. (2008)
4. BirdLife International (2007)
5. Gotch, A. F. (1195)

References

• BirdLife International (2007): Crypturellus saltuarius BirdLife Species Factsheet. Retrieved 2007-AUG-26.
• BirdLife International (2008). "Apteryx hassti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2009.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)
• Brands, Sheila (14 August 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Crypturellus erythropus". Project: The Taxonomicon. Retrieved 9 February 2009.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Clements, James (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World (6th ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4501-9.
• Gotch, A. F. (1995) [1979]. "Tinamous". Latin Names Explained. A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals. New York, NY: Facts on File. p. 183. ISBN 0-8160-3377-3.
• Remsen Jr., J. V.; et al. (7 August 2008). "Proposals for the taxonomic treatment of Red-legged Tinamou Crypturellus erythropus". South American Classification Committee. American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 February 2009.