Tinamú Patirrojo/Red-legged Tinamou/Crypturellus erythropus

Nombre en español: Tinamú Patirrojo

Nombre en inglés: Red-legged Tinamou

Nombre científico: Crypturellus erythropus

Familia: Tinamidae

Canto: Peter Boesman

La perdiz de patas rojas, macagua, soisola, tinamú del Magdalena o tinamú patirrojo (Crypturellus erythropus), es una especie de ave terrestre que se encuentra en las zonas tropical y subtropical del norte de Sudamérica.

Descripción

Su longitud total alcanza entre 27 y 32 cm. Su plumaje es de color castaño con listas en la espalda y las alas, gris en el pecho y amarillento en el vientre. Las listas son menos notorias en los machos y además, la cantidad de listas varía entre las diferentes subespecies. Es a única perdiz de patas rojas o rosadas.

Hábitat

Su hábitat preferencial es el bosque seco, aunque se pueden encontrar en los bosques húmedos, en matorrales de baja elevación y en pastizales. Prefiere altitudes inferiores a 1.300 m. Vive en Guyana, Surinam, Colombia, Venezuela y nordeste de Brasil y en la Isla Margarita.

Comportamiento

Se le ha observado alimentándose de semillas, bayas, caracoles e insectos. Poco se sabe acerca de su comportamiento de reproducción, pero sus huevos son de color lavanda grisáceo bañado de rosado.

Taxonomía

Se consideran como subespecies de perdiz de patas rojas, las siguientes:

Crypturellus erythropus erythropus de Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam y el nordeste de Brasil.
Crypturellus erythropus cursitans de los Andes del nororiente de Colombia y noroccidente de Venezuela.
Crypturellus erythropus spencei de Venezuela.
Crypturellus erythropus margaritae de la Isla Margarita.
Crypturellus erythropus saltuarius del valle del Magdalena, Colombia y la Sierra de Ocaña.
Crypturellus erythropus columbianus el tinamú colombiano, del bajo Cauca y alto Sinú, en Colombia.
Crypturellus erythropus idoneus del norte de Colombia y noroccidente de Venezuela.

Etimología

La palabra Crypturellus está formada por tres palabras latinas o griegas: kryptos significa «cubierta» u «oculta»; oura significa «cola», y ellus indica diminutivo. Es decir, significa «colita oculta».

Esta taxonomía aún no es definitiva y algunas autoridades consideran los taxones saltuarius, idoneus y columbianus como especies diferentes y no como subespecies de la perdiz de patas rojas, aunque la Unión Estadounidense de Ornitólogos rechazó la solicitud de elevarlas a especies, argumentando que los datos actualmente disponibles no apoyan la división.

Conservación

Aunque es frecuentemente común en su área de distribución, la subespecie del Magdalena es muy rara y está a punto de extinguirse, en tanto el «tinamú colombiano» se considera en peligro. En ambos casos el problema principal es la destrucci´´on del hábitat, aunque también la caza excesiva es un problema. La IUCN considera al conjunto de la especie como de preocupación menor¹

Red-legged tinamou

The red-legged tinamou or red-footed tinamou, (Crypturellus erythropus) is a ground-dwelling bird found in the tropics and lower subtropics of northern South America.

Description

The red-legged tinamou is superficially similar to a quail to which it is not related as it, along with other tinamous, belongs in the Paleognathae. Its total length is 27 to 32 cm (11–13 in). Its brownish upper parts and grey chest contrasts clearly with the buff belly. The back and wings are barred, but this is faint (often barely visible) in the males. Additionally, the amount of barring to the upperparts varies among the subspecies. It is the only tinamou in its range with rosy-red legs.

Behavior

As other tinamous, it is recorded infrequently, except by its whistling voice. It has been recorded feeding on seeds, berries, snails, and insects. Little is known about its breeding behavior, but the glossy eggs are pale greyish-lavender with a variable amount of pink suffusion.

Etymology

Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words/parts. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and -ellus a Latin diminutive suffix. Therefore, Crypturellus means small hidden tail.

Taxonomy

All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, 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.

Red-legged tinamou subspecies are:

C. e. erythropus located in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and northeastern Brazil.
C. e. cursitans located east of the Andes in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.
C. e. spencei located in northern Venezuela.
C. e. margaritae located on Margarita Island.
C. e. saltuarius – Magdalena tinamou located in northeastern Colombia in Sierra de Ocaña.
C. e. columbianus – Colombian tinamou located in tropical north central Colombia.
C. e. idoneus – Santa Marta tinamou located in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.

The taxonomy, beyond this, remains unclear, with some authorities considering the taxa saltuarius, idoneus, and columbianus as monotypic species rather than subspecies of the red-legged tinamou. The SACC rejected a proposal to elevate these to species status, arguing that the presently available data fail to support the split.

Additionally, several subspecies usually associated with the red-legged tinamou have been associated with other species in the past, especially the thicket tinamou, the Choco tinamou and the yellow-legged tinamou.

Range and habitat

The red-legged tinamou lives in Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, Venezuela and northeastern Brazil, and on Margarita Island. It may also be found in French Guiana. It is favored habitat is dry forest, although it can be found in moist forest and lower elevation shrubland and grasslands. It prefers elevations below 1,300 m (4,300 ft).

Conservation

The red-legged tinamou is uncommon to locally common in most of its range, but the Magdalena tinamou is very rare (perhaps extinct), while the Colombian tinamou is endangered. In both cases the main problem is habitat destruction, but hunting is another issue. The IUCN lists this bird as Least Concern, with an occurrence range of 1,800,000 km² (690,000 sq mi).