Barred Tinamou vs Dwarf Tinamou

Crypturellus casiquiare compared with Taoniscus nanus

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Attribute Barred Tinamou Dwarf Tinamou
Scientific Name Crypturellus casiquiare Taoniscus nanus
Order Tinamiformes Tinamiformes
Family Tinamidae Tinamidae
Conservation Status Least Concern Endangered
Length
Wingspan 27.0 cm (10.6 in) 15.3 cm (6.0 in)
Weight 287.625 g (10.15 oz) 43.0 g (1.52 oz)
Diet Grazes grasses and aquatic vegetation near wetland edges; sedges and stems dominate diet; supplements with … Eats grasses and agricultural grain; migratory; grazes pastures and stubble fields in winter across Europe …
Clutch Size -- 3
Population Trend
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Habitat Comparison

Shared Habitats

Barred Tinamou only

None

Dwarf Tinamou only

Barred Tinamou

Restricted to humid lowland forest along the Casiquiare canal region of southern Venezuela and extreme northwestern Brazil. Associated with river-edge and flooded forest at low elevations. Rarely recorded.

Dwarf Tinamou

Intact campo sujo and campo limpo grasslands of the cerrado in central Brazil. Extremely sensitive to burning, grazing, and conversion of native grasslands. One of the world's most poorly known birds.

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Song & Call Comparison

Barred Tinamou

Song

A slow, hollow whistle from blackwater river forest of the upper Orinoco. Call is distinctive but rarely recorded given its restricted range on the Venezuela-Colombia border.

Dwarf Tinamou

Song

Poorly documented; the Dwarf Tinamou is an endangered cerrado endemic whose call is a thin, very high-pitched whistle. Rarely recorded; secretive in tall grass.

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Geographic Range & Migration

Barred Tinamou

Inhabits savannas and forest edges of northeastern Brazil's semi-arid Caatinga region. Sedentary and endemic to this biome.

Dwarf Tinamou

Found in the coastal Humboldt Current region of Peru and Chile. Largely sedentary; range closely tied to cold upwelling waters.

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Conservation Status

Least Concern

Barred Tinamou

Endangered

Dwarf Tinamou

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How to Tell Them Apart

Barred Tinamou

Plumage

Heavily and boldly barred throughout; upperparts dark brown with broad black bars. Crown blackish; face pale. Throat whitish; breast and flanks strongly barred black and buff. Belly whitish.

Dwarf Tinamou

Plumage

Minute; brown-gray upperparts with buff and blackish barring. Crown dark brown with pale center. Throat pale; breast buff with brown spots. Belly whitish. Smallest tinamou; critically threatened cerrado species.

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About These Birds

Barred Tinamou

A small tinamou with distinctly barred brown-and-buff plumage. Restricted to the Casiquiare region of Venezuela and adjacent northwestern Brazil—one of the most restricted tinamou ranges. Nearly all data come from specimens. Inhabits humid lowland forest along river systems.

Dwarf Tinamou

The smallest tinamou in the world, weighing only 40–50 g, with brown-streaked plumage and a very short bill. Critically Endangered and poorly known; restricted to intact cerrado grasslands of central Brazil. Considered one of South America's rarest and most enigmatic birds.

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