Ornate Tinamou

     The Ornate Tinamou is a type of Tinamous, which inhabits high elevation steppes, especially hills dominated by bunch grass, at 3500 – 4800 m high. It can be found there from central Peru south through Bolivia to Argentina and Chile. The Ornate tinamou is quite attractive, being heavily patterned with white edgings and bandings across the back and wings.

     The nest of Ornate tinamous is a substantial structure of circularly wrapped grass, resting on a base of dirt or a mixture of dirt and mossy turf. Its eggs are of a violet chocolate color, with the strong gloss which is characteristic of all tinamou eggs. The male Ornate tinamou incubates the eggs which may come from as many as 4 different females for almost 22 days. He also does all the parental care until the chicks are ready to be on their own, usually at the age of 2 – 3 weeks.