Choco Tinamou

The Choco tinamou or Chocó tinamou (Crypturellus kerriae) is a species of tinamou found in lowland forest and montane forest in the subtropical and tropical regions of Colombia and Panama. The Choco tinamou has a length of between 25-26.5 cm. This is a tinamou of short, light silence. Its tops are dark brown with black crown, slate-gray neck ends, whitish neck ends and indistinct dusky shield. Her thighs are painted purple. On wing-covers and breast, the females are black with coarser barring, and grey flanks. Its three-note whistle, it has a quiet, gentle, mournful sound. The Choco tinamou consumes fruit like other tinamous, or low-lying trees off the ground. We do consume small amounts of invertebrates, blossoms, tender herbs, seeds, and roots. The male incubates the eggs which can come from as many as four different females, and then holds them up until they can be autonomous, normally 2–3 weeks. The nest is on the ground in dense scrub, between raised root buttresses. The Choco tinamou is a monotypical genus. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and are also ratites in the broader scheme. Tinamous, like other ratites, can float but in general they are not strong fliers. All ratites originated from ancient flying birds and tinamous are the closest living relative to these birds. Crypturellus consists of three words, either Latin, or Greek. Kruptos meaning concealed or obscured, oura meaning mouth, and ellus meaning diminutive. Sometimes, Crypturellus means tiny hidden tail. This plant is found in the northwestern province of Chocó in Colombia, and the southern province of Darién in Panama The Choco tinamou grows in evergreen humid tropical and subtropical forests[3], both lowland and woodland, up to 1,500 m above sea level. Currently the Choco tinamou is threatened by the significant destruction of its habitats caused by road building, human settlement, wood processing and mining. Completing a new road-bridge has opened up settlement to threatened parts of the coastal plain adjacent to Ensenada de Utría National Park, which further threatens their biodiversity. Maybe the most endangered species in Atrato Valley, Colombia, would be caused by human settlement and conversion to agriculture and banana plantations. It is possibly hunted anywhere humans are located. Currently the development of the Pan-American highway through Darién and the canalization of the Truandó and lower Atrato rivers to create an inter-oceanic fairway are on hold, but if it is to be completed it would have major ecological consequences. The key problems are agriculture, and on-hold transport arrangements. The Choco tinamou is currently found in Darién National Park, Panama and the Ensenada de Utría National Park, Colombia. The Los Katíos National Park, Colombia, also protects 720 km2 of apparently acceptable habitat in the Chocó region, but the species has not yet been identified in the Reserve. It was recommended to survey areas and study the ecosystem to get a clearer understanding of their location and distribution. The status of Choco tinamou is considered vulnerable as it is founded within its restricted range from only a few areas where vegetation gradually declines. It has an incidence scale of 6,200 km2, averaging fewer than 10,000 adult birds for 2000. Choco Tinamou is located in dense tropical forest at an altitude of 300–1500 m in remote south-eastern Panama and north-western Colombia, an region which ornithologists seldom visit. As a result, this relatively small, black headed tinamou remains quite elusive, and almost none of its natural history was recorded here. Many researchers have suggested improved recognition of this species as an separate Slaty-breasted Tinamou subspecies. Tiny Tinamou is smaller than Choco Tinamou and has greyish heads while Berlepsch's Tinamou is larger and blacker. Choco Tinamou's voice is described as a low pitched, gentle, mournful, three-note whistle. BirdLife International is currently considering that this tinamou is vulnerable worldwide, based on its restricted range and probably declining population.