The elegant crested tinamou or martineta tinamou is a medium-sized tinamou that can be found in southern Chile and Argentina in Shrubland. The bird has an omnivorous diet. This species is terrestrial due to their poor flying ability.
Region
Southern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs across arid and semi-arid shrublands, grass-steppes, and open thorny scrub of Argentina and southern Chile, especially throughout Patagonia and the Monte Desert. Prefers gently rolling terrain with scattered bushes and tussock grasses that provide both forage and cover. Often uses dry washes, edges of low woodlands, and grazed rangelands. It is largely terrestrial, moving by swift running and short dashes between cover. Local densities can be higher where grazing maintains open structure.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2000 m
Climate Zone
Arid
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
This ground-dwelling tinamou is famous for its long, elegant crest that it raises during displays or when alarmed. Males incubate a clutch that may contain eggs from several females and then lead the chicks after hatching. When flushed, it erupts in a noisy, whirring flight for a short distance before dropping back to cover. Its cryptic plumage makes it exceptionally well camouflaged in Patagonian scrub and steppe.
Eudromia elegans
At the Sylvan Heights Bird Park, North Carolina, US
A pair of elegant crested tinamou, taxidermied, and eggs at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Birds of La Plata, by W. H. Hudson, with twenty-two coloured illustrations by H. Gronvold. Martineta Tinamu - Calodromas elegans (d'Orb. & Geoff.)
Temperament
wary and secretive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with noisy, whirring takeoff; low, brief flights
Social Behavior
Typically seen in pairs or small coveys outside the breeding season. Nests are shallow ground scrapes concealed under shrubs or grasses. Males incubate and rear the young, often from a mixed clutch laid by multiple females. Chicks are precocial and follow the male soon after hatching.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A clear series of mellow, whistled notes that carry over open country, often given at dawn and dusk. Alarm calls are harsher clucks and trills, while contact calls within coveys are soft, piping whistles.
