Red-winged tinamou

Appearance

The red-winged tinamou is approximately 40 to 41 cm in length, and weighs 830 g , and the female may be slightly larger. 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.

Naming

The red-winged tinamou has three subspecies:
⤷  ''R. r. rufescens'', the nominate race, occurs in southeastern Peru, Bolivia, eastern Paraguay southeastern Brazil and northeastern Argentina, and possibly Uruguay
⤷  ''R. r. catingae'' occurs in central and northeastern Brazil
⤷  ''R. r. pallescens'' occurs in northern Argentina; eastern Formosa, Chaco, Santa Fé, Córdoba, La Pampa, Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, and Rio Negro

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.Its common name refers to the bright rufous primaries, which mainly are visible in flight.

Status

Like all tinamous, the red-winged tinamou is a popular target for hunters, and in areas of high human population density number have declined, but the species has also increased in some areas where forest clearance has created favourable habitat. Overall, it is not considered threatened and is therefore listed as Least Concern by IUCN. It has an occurrence range of 5,700,000 km2 .

Behavior

The red-winged tinamou have vocal males that are a longs ringing single whistle followed by shorter sad whistles. The female does not call. This species is most active during the hottest parts of the day.

Habitat

At lower elevations ), it favours marshy grasslands and forest edges. While, at higher elevations, up to 2,500 m , it will frequent arid shrubland, pastures, and grain fields. Overall it prefers dry savanna.

Reproduction

The male of the species attracts the female by follow feeding and after the attraction will move to the nest where she lays her eggs that he will incubate only and then raise the chicks.

Food

Its diet varies by season; it taking insects and other small animals in the summer, and switching to vegetable matter, such as fruits, shoots, tubers and bulbs, in the winter. It can be an agricultural pest, feeding on cereals, rice and peanuts, as well as being predatory, taking poisonous snakes and even jumping up into the air to snatch an insect off a leaf.