The little tinamou (Crypturellus soui) is found in Central America and South America.
The little tinamou is approximately 22 to 24 cm (8.7–9.4 in) long and weighs 220 g (7.8 oz). This species is a shy, secretive and solitary tinamou. Although it looks similar to other ground-dwelling birds like quail and grouse, it is completely unrelated to those groups. This is a dumpy bird recognised by its small size and lack of barring. It has an unbarred sooty-brown plumage, it is shaded to grey on the head and has a whitish throat. Its foreneck is brownish and it is cinnamon buff on its belly. The female has a brighter rufous brown on its under parts than the male. Its legs can be grey, olive, or yellow.
The IUCN list the little tinamou as Least Concern, with an occurrence range of 9,500,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).
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.
All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Palaeognathaes. Unlike the widely known flightless Palaeognathae, ratites such as ostriches and emus, Tinamous can fly, although in general they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.
It is a resident breeder in tropical lowland forests, rivers-edge forests, lowland evergreen forest, secondary forest, and lowland shrublands at an altitude of 2,000 m (6,600 ft). They also are fairly successful utilizing cleared forests and plantations or farmed land. The little tinamou is located throughout central and southern Central America and northern South America.
The little tinamou is rarely seen in its dark, dense forests, walking away through the undergrowth. It can be located by its slow whistling calls (soft, descending whinny; also a series of single notes, tempo increasing at end), given by both sexes. It eats seeds, berries, and some insects.
The breeding season of the little tinamou ranges from May to October. Its nest is a small depression in forest floor, sometimes lined with a few leaves at the base of a tree or in dense brush. It usually lays two glossy dark purple coloured eggs, sometimes only one. The size of the egg is approximately 41 to 32 mm (1.6–1.3 in). The eggs are incubated by male. The young are precocial, and can run almost as soon as they hatch.
Little tinamou