The Black Tinamou Tinamus osgoodi is a type of ground bird found in lowland and montane humid forest up to 1,400"?2,100 m (4,600"?6,900 ft) altitude.

Taxonomy

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.

This species has two subspecies:

• T. osgoodi hershkovitzi a rarely seen bird last seen at San José de la Fragua, Caquetá Department, Colombia,also seen in the past on the east slope of the East Andes, in Huila Department and possibly in the northern Central Andes at Antioquia Department, Colombia at 1,400"?2,100 m (4,600"?6,900 ft) altitude
• T. osgoodi osgoodi located on the east slope of the Andes, in the Magdalena River valley, in Cuzco, Puno and Madre de Dios Regions, southeastern Peru at 600"?1,400 m (2,000"?4,600 ft) altitude

Description

This species is large in size, and is a blackish tinamou. All parts of its body are black in color except its sooty brown belly and chestnut vent with black speckling. Black Tinamou are 40"?46 cm (16"?18 in) long, with females being a little larger than males. It has a mournful voice with a tremulous and descending whistle lasting about one second.

Behavior

Like other Tinamous, the Bartlett's eats fruit off the ground or low-lying bushes. They also eat small amounts of invertebrates, flower buds, tender leaves, seeds, and roots. The male incubates the eggs which may come from as many as 4 different females, and then will raise them until they are ready to be on their own, usually 2-3 weeks. The nest is located on the ground in dense brush or between raised root buttresses.

Reproduction

The only information on the black tinamou's nesting was from one nest that was found on the ground with 2 glossy blue eggs.

Conservation

Black Tinamou is rated as Vulnerable by the IUCN with a range occurrence of 11,600 km2 (4,500 sq mi). In 2004 it was estimated that less than 10,000 remained. They are currently being conserved in Manú National Park, in Peru, and Cueva de los Guácharos National Park, in Huila Department. It was proposed to make the Tavara-Candamo area into Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Meanwhile, restrict the tourists from disturbing the Black Tinamou's habitat in the foothills of southeastern Peru. It was also proposed to implement conservation education programs to create awareness among the public to stop their ongoing deforestation.

Black Tinamou is currently threatened by the ongoing deforestation caused by human settlement expansion, agricultural expansion (mainly used for opium plantations), associated road-building in Huila, oil exploration in Peru,and it is still hunted for food. Hunting and oil exploration and related road-building are the major threts to this tinamou.