The red-winged tinamou (Rhynchotus rufescens) is a medium-sized ground-living bird from central and eastern South America. Other common names for the species include perdiz grande, rufous tinamou, and ynambu.
Taxonomy
The red-winged tinamou was formally described in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck under the binomial name Tinamus rufescens. Temminck based his account on the "Ynambu-guazu" from Brazil that had been described in 1805 by the Spanish naturalist Félix de Azara. The type locality was restricted to São Paulo in Brazil by Carl Eduard Hellmayr in 1929. The specific epithet rufescens is Latin meaning "reddish". The red-winged tinamou is now placed with the huayco tinamou in the genus Rhynchotus that was introduced in 1825 by Johann Baptist von Spix. Its common name refers to the bright rufous primaries, which mainly are visible in flight.
Three subspecies are recognised:
Previously, the taxon maculicollis was considered a subspecies of the red-winged tinamou, but following SACC it is now considered a species in its own right; the huayco tinamou.
Description
The red-winged tinamou is in overall length. The male weighs , the female is slightly heavier and weighs . It has a black crown, rufous primaries, and light gray to brown underneath. It may have black bars on flanks, abdomen and vent. Also, the throat is whitish, the foreneck and breast are cinnamon. The curved bill is horn-coloured with a blackish culmen. Juveniles are duller.
Distribution and habitat
Its range is southeastern, northeastern and central Brazil, eastern Paraguay, southeastern Peru, Bolivia and eastern Argentina Overall it prefers dry savanna.