Small-billed Tinamou

Open Bird Bucket List ↗

Quick Facts

  • Scientific Name: Crypturellus parvirostris
  • Spanish Name: Tinamú chico
  • Family: Tinamidae
  • Known Nicknames: Small-billed Tinamou
  • Average Length: 22–26 cm / 8.7–10.2 in
  • Average Weight: 150–250 g / 5.3–8.8 oz
  • Wingspan: N/A
  • Key Feature: Small, slender bill and reddish-brown plumage with barred underparts
  • Primary Diet: Primarily Frugivore and Granivore
  • Range: South-central South America (eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina)
  • Habitat: Grasslands, savannas, and dry scrubland
  • Social Structure: Solitary or in pairs
  • Nesting/Breeding: Ground nest (scrape in soil under vegetation)
  • Conservation Status: Least Concern (LC)
  • Population Trend: Stable

The Small-billed Tinamou (*Crypturellus parvirostris*) is a secretive, ground-dwelling bird native to the grasslands and scrub of South America, most commonly found in Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. Its name derives from its most distinctive feature: a notably short, delicate bill compared to other tinamous, which it uses to deftly pick seeds and insects from the leaf litter. This medium-sized bird has a plump, quail-like body, with a warm brown back and a pale, buffy breast, while its legs are a striking grayish or olive hue. A special adaptation is its cryptic plumage, which blends seamlessly with dry grass and soil, making it nearly invisible despite its loud, descending whistle—a haunting "pee-yew" call that often betrays its presence. Unlike many birds, the male is the sole incubator of the eggs and caretaker of the precocial chicks, a unique parental role that underscores its fascinating reproductive strategy.

Fun Facts

Despite its modest size, the small-billed tinamou has a remarkably loud, haunting whistle that can carry for over a kilometer, often mistaken for a ghost or lost soul in the dense grasslands of South America. It possesses a bizarre reproductive strategy where the female lays a clutch of eggs, then abandons them to mate with multiple other males, leaving the father solely responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the chicks—a rare example of exclusive paternal care among birds. Its cryptic plumage and tendency to freeze motionless when threatened make it nearly invisible, but if cornered, it will explosively take flight with a startling burst of noise, only to crash-land clumsily into cover moments later.

Habitats & Distribution

The Small-billed Tinamou inhabits a variety of open and semi-open lowland habitats, primarily grasslands, savannas, and agricultural fields such as pastures and rice paddies. It is also found in dry scrublands, cerrado vegetation, and the edges of gallery forests, avoiding dense, humid rainforest interiors. Its geographical range spans central and eastern South America, occurring from eastern Peru and Bolivia across much of Brazil (excluding the Amazon basin), south through Paraguay and into northern Argentina, with isolated populations in Uruguay.

Behaviours & Reproduction

The Small-billed Tinamou is predominantly solitary, coming together only for brief mating interactions. Males are highly territorial and advertise with a distinctive, far-carrying whistle, especially during the breeding season. Mating involves a polygynous system where a male will mate with multiple females, who then lay their eggs in a single, shared nest—a simple scrape on the ground lined with leaves. The male alone incubates the clutch, which can contain eggs from several different females, and he also exclusively cares for the precocial chicks after hatching, leading them to food and protecting them without any female involvement. This strategy, known as simultaneous polygyny, allows females to produce multiple clutches for different males, maximizing reproductive output.

Diet

The Small-billed Tinamou is primarily a ground-foraging omnivore that feeds on a diverse mix of seeds, fruits, and small invertebrates. Its diet is heavily seasonal, shifting from fallen seeds and berries during the wet season to a greater reliance on insects, spiders, and small snails during the dry months when fruit is scarce. A fascinating aspect of its feeding behavior is its use of its small, slightly curved bill to probe leaf litter and soft soil with rapid, chicken-like scratches, often in the dim light of dawn or dusk. Unlike many birds, it does not drink water directly but instead obtains sufficient moisture from the juicy fruits and succulent invertebrates it consumes, allowing it to thrive in dry savannas and forest edges. Additionally, it swallows small pebbles and grit to aid in grinding tough plant material in its muscular gizzard.

Colors

The Small-billed Tinamou has a mostly brownish-gray upper body with fine black barring and a paler, buffy throat and belly. Its head and neck are a warm rufous-brown, blending into a dark crown. A key feature is its short, pale bill and unmarked, dull brownish legs. This subdued, mottled pattern provides excellent camouflage against the leaf litter and soil of its South American grassland and forest-edge habitats.

Distribution Map

Places linked to this species. A sighting is never guaranteed.

Use the map filter to show only featured places.

Featured places