Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Natural History and Breeding Behavior of the Tinamou, Nothoprocta ornata

1955; Oxford University Press; Volume: 72; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/4081418

1938-4254

Anita K. Pearson, Oliver P. Pearson,

Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond

ON the high mountainous plain of southern Peru west of Lake Titicaca live three species of the little known family Tinamidae. The three species represent three different genera and grade in size from the small, quail-sized Nothura darwini found in the farm land and grassy hills about Lake Titicaca between 12,500 and 13,300 feet to the large, pheasant-sized Tinamotis pentlandi in the bleak country between 14,000 and 16,000 feet. Nothoprocta ornata, the third species in this area and the one to be discussed in the present report, is intermediate in size and generally occurs at intermediate elevations. In Peru we have encountered Nothoprocta between 13,000 and 14,300 feet. It often lives in the same grassy areas as Nothura; indeed, the two species may be flushed simultaneously from the same spot. This is not true of Nothoprocta and the larger tinamou, Tinamotis, for although at places they occur within a few hundred yards of each other, Nothoprocta is usually found in the bunch grass known locally as ichu (mostly Stipa ichu) or in a mixture of ichu and tola shrubs, whereas Tinamotis usually occurs in the range of a different bunch grass, Festuca orthophylla. The three species of tinamous are distinguished by the inhabitants, some of whom refer to Nothura as codorniz and to Nothoprocta as perdiz. Tinamotis is always called quivia, quello, keu, or some similar derivative of its distinctive call. The hilly, almost treeless countryside in which Nothoprocta lives in southern Peru is used primarily for grazing sheep, alpacas, llamas, and cattle. The shepherds caring for these animals are the most important predators on Nothoprocta, for they hunt and eat both the eggs and the birds. Other common predators are the Andean fox (Dusicyon culpaeus), a large Buteo, and dogs belonging to the natives.