Males call more often to establish and defend territory and to attract mates. Females join in duets with males during courtship. A mated male and its females will use recognition calls to communicate within the male’s territory. Males may also use recognition calls when calling to hatchlings before abandoning them (Lancaster, 1964b). Female calls are somewhat more nasal and have a whining quality. Calling seems to occur most often in the morning and evening (Lancaster 1964a). The slaty-breasted tinamou's call is often characterized as a low ah-oowah sound (Grzimek, Schlaeger and Olendorf, 2005).
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Other Communication Modes: duets
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Slaty-breasted tinamous have become rare in parts of their range where they are heavily hunted but are very common in other areas. They are listed on the IUCN Red List as a species of least concern.
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There are no known adverse effects of slaty-breasted tinamous on humans.
Slay-breasted tinamous are a game species and are hunted throughout their range.
Positive Impacts: food
Slaty-breasted tinamous may be important in the dispersal of undigested seeds and seeds from consumed fruits.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Slaty-breasted tinamous feed on fruits and seeds, as well as insects such as ants and termites. Frogs and lizards may be consumed on occasion. Foraging behavior is similar to that seen in domestic fowl, involving erratic movements and pecking the ground for seeds, fruits, or insects.
Animal Foods: amphibians; reptiles; insects
Plant Foods: seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit
Primary Diet: omnivore
Slaty-breasted tinamous are native to the Neotropical region. There are found in the same range year round, from southern Mexico to northern Costa Rica through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Lancaster, 1964a)
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Slaty-breasted tinamous are most often found in tall, wet forests with canopies ranging from 10 to 25 meters in height and seem to require at least some protective undergrowth, though the amount can range from very thick to quite sparse (Lancaster, 1964a). Slaty-breasted tinamous can also be found in areas of degraded farm-land or regenerating plantations and are often found in damp areas around forest edges.
Range elevation: 0 to 1800 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
There is no available information on slaty-breasted tinamou longevity.
The breast feathers are a dark slaty gray, the head is blackish and the throat is white. The back can range between black and chestnut. The legs are pink to bright red. Females of this species have barring on their wings.
Average mass: 470 g.
Average length: 27.5 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes colored or patterned differently
The eggs of slaty-breasted tinamous may be preyed upon by snakes or coatis, adults may be preyed upon by ocelots, jaguars, foxes, snakes, and humans. Slaty-breasted tinamous freeze initially in response to a threat, then try to stealthily walk away. They will fly only in response to an imminent threat. Tinamous are cryptically colored.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Males establish a territory within their home range and attract two to four females. After mating, the females lay the eggs in a nest at the base of a tree or in dense vegetation and leave to find another mate. The male incubates the eggs alone.
Mating System: polyandrous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Males begin calling to establish territory in early March and mating occurs from then until early May (some males may nest as early as January and as late as June). Females may lay 2-3 eggs and males may mate with 2-4 females. Males may nest multiple times during a season and females mate with other males after leaving previous mates. Eggs are laid on the ground in thick vegetation or at the base of a large tree (most often in tree buttresses). Nests of 4-12 eggs are incubated by the male once the females leave. Males are very attentive to the eggs, staying with them for almost two days at a time sometimes and only leaving briefly to forage. Eggs hatch after about 16 days of incubation, and the male calls the chicks out of the nest less than a day later. Males abandon the chicks after several days, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Breeding interval: Slaty-breasted tinamous breed multiple times with different partners during their breeding season.
Breeding season: Breeding may occur from January to late April.
Range eggs per season: 1 to 12.
Average time to hatching: 16 days.
Range time to independence: 18 (low) days.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Female slaty-breasted tinamous leave males shortly after the eggs are laid, leaving incubation up to the males. Males protect nests from predators and attempt to kick leaves on to the eggs to hide them when leaving to forage. Males call the young off the nest after hatching, then abandon them a few days later.
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male); pre-weaning/fledging (Protecting: Male)
The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou (Crypturellus boucardi) is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.[4]
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.[5]
The slaty-breasted tinamou has two sub-species:[6]
Philip Sclater identified the slaty-breasted tinamou from a specimen from Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1859.[5]
Crypturellus can be broken down into the following: kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning the tail and ellus meaning diminutive. Therefore, Crypturellus means the small covered tail. Finally, boucardi is the Latin form of Boucard to commemorate Adolphe Boucard.[7]
It is commonly found in lowland moist forest in subtropical and tropical regions up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) altitude.[8] This species ranges along the Gulf of Mexico coast from southern Mexico, from southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca south, to northern Costa Rica. Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.[4]
It prefers thick evergreen[3] forests with thick undergrowth, but also can be found in thick forests with little undergrowth, secondary forests,[3] and on regenerating plantations. It likes moist areas as well.[5]
The slaty-breasted tinamou averages 27 cm (11 in) in length, and weighs about 470 g (1.04 lb). Its back and head are black to chestnut in color, brown on its wings, slaty grey on its breast, white on its throat,[5] grey-brown on remainder of its underparts with darker barring on flanks and undertail. The female has barring on its wings.[5] Its legs are pink to bright red,[5] and its bill is dark above and yellow below.
It is a shy and difficult tinamou to be seen on the dark forest floors. Its call is a three-note call and lower than other tinamous. Its calls can be in long bouts, up to five hours at a time. This tinamou and the thicket tinamou will produce hybrids on occasion.[5]
Like other tinamous, it feeds on fruit and seeds and some invertebrates, in particular, ants and termites.[5]
The slaty-breasted tinamou male attracts 2 to 4 females to lay in its nest on the ground and in thick vegetation or between the raised roots of a tree. The male incubates and raises the young. Females will mate with more than one male.[5]
The IUCN has classified the slaty-breasted as vulnerable and it has an occurrence range of 330,000 km2 (130,000 sq mi).[8] It is hunted for food but its numbers seem to be consistent.[5]
The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou (Crypturellus boucardi) is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.
