Darwin's nothura is a type of tinamou commonly found in high-altitude grassland in the southern Andes in South America.
Region
Southern Andes
Typical Environment
Occurs in high-altitude Andean grasslands and steppe, especially puna and shrubby bunchgrass habitats. It favors open, stony slopes and valleys with scattered cover, using tussocks and low shrubs for concealment. The species may venture into fallow fields and pasture edges but remains close to natural cover. Ground roosting and nesting sites are typically well hidden among dense grasses.
Altitude Range
1800–4000 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
Darwin's nothura is a small ground-dwelling tinamou of the southern Andes, where it blends into tussock grass with superb camouflage. Like other tinamous, males incubate clutches that may contain eggs from multiple females and then lead the chicks after hatching. It flies only in short, explosive bursts, preferring to run and freeze when threatened.
Darwin's nothura in Argentina
Temperament
secretive and wary
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with explosive flushes, then brief glides
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs outside the breeding season, sometimes in small loose groups in good cover. Nests are shallow ground scrapes hidden in grasses. Breeding is polygynandrous; males incubate and brood precocial chicks. Family groups remain close to cover and rely on stillness and camouflage when disturbed.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives low, plaintive, whistled notes that carry across open grasslands, often in the early morning and evening. Calls are simple, spaced whistles used for contact and territorial advertisement.
Plumage
Cryptic, finely mottled and barred plumage with vermiculated browns and buffs that blend with dry grass. Underparts are buffy with darker spotting; flanks barred. Feathers are soft and dense, enhancing camouflage.
Diet
Eats a mix of seeds, tender shoots, and small fruits, supplemented by insects and other invertebrates such as beetles and termites. Forages by walking and gleaning from the ground, pecking among leaf litter and grass bases. Opportunistically takes arthropods flushed by its movement through tussocks.
Preferred Environment
Feeds along the edges of dense bunchgrasses, low shrubs, and rocky patches where cover is nearby. Will use open pasture and field margins but retreats quickly to concealment when alarmed.
