Dwarf Tinamou

It is approximately 16 cm long. It is greyish-brown with a pale throat, boldly patterned neck and upper parts, and it has brown-barred buff underparts and a blackish crown. Some individuals are significantly darker and greyer than others, but it remains unclear if these plumage variations are morphs or differences between the sexes. The iris and legs are dull yellowish. It resembles a small dumpy nothura, but is more easily confused with the Ocellated Crake.

The Dwarf Tinamou is classified as Vulnerable (VU), considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

on the Dwarf Tinamou (Taoniscus nanus) at the "Reserva Biol6gica do Roncador" of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE) (approx. 15�55'S, 47�52'W), Federal District central Brazil. Ex- cept for Azara (1805), the Dwarf Tinamou has not been studied in the field; Silveira (1967, 1968) re- ported only on five collected or captive birds from Cristalina (Goias) and near Brasilia. At the study area, Taoniscus is more common in "campos sujos" than in the "cerrado" or bushy sa- vanna. More

The Dwarf Tinamou is the only member of the genus Taoniscus. Range and habitat - The Dwarf Tinamou is found in the arid scrub grasslands, around 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation, restricted to the Cerrado region of interior southeastern Brazil in Distrito Federal, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo and formerly Paraná. More

Dwarf Tinamou, is about 43 g (1.5 oz) and 20 cm (7.9 in) long. The largest tinamou, the Gray Tinamou, weighs 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) and measures up to 53 cm (21 in) long. They have very small wings, but unlike other ratites, they can fly, albeit poorly. They have three forward facing toes, and their hind toe is higher and either retrogressed or absent. Their tail is short and sometimes hidden behind coverts, and some tinamous have crests. More

The Dwarf Tinamou (Taoniscus nanus) of central Brazil divider Proceedings from the symposium Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of the Tinamiformes, VIIth Neotropical Ornithology Congress, Termas de Puyehe, Chile 2003. Bertelli 2004. Pigmentation characters: an example of Sankoff characters from tinamou phylogeny Bertelli and Porzecanski 2004. Tinamou (Tinamidae) systematics: a preliminary combined analysis of morphology and molecules Brennan 2004. More

Aspects of the topic dwarf tinamou are discussed in the following places at Britannica. Assorted References * description (in tinamou (bird order): General features) ...with a high rump outline from an enormous development of rump feathers, which generally hide the extremely short or even rudimentary tail. More

The Dwarf Tinamou is found in the scrub grasslands habitats restricted to the Cerrado region of central and south-east Brazil in Distrito Federal, Goias, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Sao Paulo and formerly Parana. Specimens are also known from Paraguay (Misiones) and Argentina (the Rio Bermejo in either Chaco or Formosa), but all recent records are from Brazil. It is, however, highly inconspicious and easily overlooked. More

Dwarf Tinamou (Taoniscus nanus) by Robson Silva e Silva. More