Lesser Tinamou

The lesser nothura (Nothura minor) is a type of tinamou found in lowland dry grassland ecosystems in subtropical and tropical regions of south-east South America. That is a monotypical genus. All tinamou are of the family of Tinamidae, and are thus ratites in the broader scheme. Tinamous, like other ratites, can float but in general they are not fast fliers. Both ratites evolved from primaeval flying birds, and tinamous are the oldest surviving relatives of these birds. Tinamous are mountain birds with small and robust wings, and rudimentary tail. Tinamous are shy and withdrawn trees, desert, and grassland residents. Their flute-like melodic whistles are heard more often than the birds. The smaller nothura inhabits subtropical or tropical dry grassland habitats at an altitude range of between 200 and 1,000 m. The tinamou is also to be found in dry shrubland and savanna. Lately it doesn't seem like past grasslands were burned. The smaller nothura is found only recently in southeastern Brazil, and only recently in one region in east-central Paraguay. It was situated in Brasilia National Park, IBGE Roncador Ecological Reserve, and Taguatinga in the Federal District, Emas National Park and Luziânia in Goiás and Serra do Canastra National Park and Serra do Cipó National Park in Minas Gerais, Itapetininga Experimental Station and Itirapina Experimental Station in São Paulo, and in Laguna Blanca, San Pedro Department. The nothura lighter is about 18-20 cm long. The smaller nothura is rufescent, with chestnut crown and black mottling. The skin is buff, yellow highlights on its throat and dark brown streaks forming into lines on its breast. She has brown spots on her flanks and her underpieces are rufous-barring chestnut, her wings are rufous with dusky barring. Her legs are yellow and her bill is red, and she has gold irises. Wide and high-pitched whistles shape his voice. It can breed from October through February. The IUCN has classified this species as endangered because of the loss of its population and the degradation of its primary habitat. It has an occurrence area of 3,000 square kilometres and it has been placed by an estimated 2,000 adult birds at around 9,000 which may be a little high. Increasingly, mechanised farming, intensive cattle ranching, afforestation, native grasses, heavy pesticide use and annual burning are destroying ecosystems inhabited by lesser nohura. By 1993, two-thirds of the Cerrado region had changed dramatically or marginally, with most of the damage since 1950. The practises that affect this area most are farming, ranching, explosions, and pesticides. The lesser nothura is protected by Brazilian law and is preserved in the Brasília National Park, Emas National Park and Serra da Canastra National Park, IBGE Roncador Ecological Reserve, Itapetininga Experimental Station and Itirapina Experimental Station. In Serra do Cipó National Park and Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, it was recommended to discover ideal flora using video replay. It has also proposed other poor areas of ideal habitat in northeastern Paraguay, north and west of Minas Gerais, and Goiás. The Lesser Nothura is one of a increasing number of grassland specialists whose range and habitat has declined catastrophically in recent decades as a result of continued transition to agriculture in the Cerrado region in central South America. The species is nearly endemic in Brazil, where it is still present, quite spottily, from the southern surroundings of Brasília to Minas Gerais and São Paulo, but has also been present very recently in northeastern Paraguay. It depends on ' campo limpo ' grassland, where it typically prefers scrubbier areas than the congeneric Spotted Nothura, particularly those places with a continuous cover of tall grasses and sedges. Breeding is thought to occur between October and February but very nothing is known about this aspect of genus biology.