The little tinamou (Crypturellus soui) is a species of tinamou. It is found in Central and South America, as well as on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
Taxonomy
The little tinamou was formally described in 1783 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann under the binomial name Tinamus soui. Hermann based his account on "Le Souï" that had been described in 1778 by the French polymath, the Comte de Buffon. A hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet was published to accompany Buffon's text. The type locality is Cayenne in French Guiana. The specific epithet soui is from the onomatopoeic name for the little tinamou that was used in the local language spoken in Cayenne.
The little tinamou is now one of 21 species placed in the genus Crypturellus that was introduced in 1914 by the British ornithologists Baron Brabourne and Charles Chubb. Although it looks similar to other ground-dwelling birds like quail and grouse in the order Galliformes, it is not closely related to these species.
Subspecies
Fourteen subspecies are recognised. They differ in their plumage coloration.
- C. s. meserythrus (Sclater, PL, 1860) – south Mexico to southeast Nicaragua
- C. s. modestus (Cabanis, 1869) – Costa Rica and west Panama
- C. s. capnodes Wetmore, 1963 – northwest Panama
- C. s. poliocephalus (Aldrich, 1937) – Panama (Pacific slope)
- C. s. panamensis (Carriker, 1910) – Panama
- C. s. mustelinus (Bangs, 1905) – northeast Colombia and northwest Venezuela
- C. s. soui (Hermann, 1783) – east Colombia to northeast Brazil
- C. s. andrei (Brabourne & Chubb, C, 1914) – Trinidad and northeast Venezuela
- C. s. caucae (Chapman, 1912) – central north Colombia
- C. s. harterti (Brabourne & Chubb, C, 1914) – west Colombia and west Ecuador
- C. s. caquetae (Chapman, 1915) – southeast Colombia
- C. s. nigriceps (Chapman, 1923) – east Ecuador and northeast Peru
- C. s. albigularis (Brabourne & Chubb, C, 1914) – northeast Brazil
- C. s. inconspicuus Carriker, 1935 – central Peru to east Bolivia
Description
The little tinamou is approximately in overall length. Males weigh around , females . Females are slightly larger and heavier than males. It has an unbarred sooty-brown plumage which transitions to grey on the head. The foreneck is whitish. While the underside of both male and female is cinnamon buff, the female is a lighter shade. The legs can be grey, olive, or yellow. Both male and female are almost tailess. The female is usually more brightly colored, the male tends to be darker and less rufescent. The young are cared for only by the male.
Conservation
The IUCN list the little tinamou as Least Concern,