The spotted nothura (Nothura maculosa) is a speciesoftinamou. This bird is native to grassy habitats in eastern and southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and eastern and northern Argentina.[3]
The spotted nothura is approximately 24 to 25.5 cm (9.4–10.0 in) in length.[4] The upper parts are brown with streaked buff. The under parts are buff streaked with black and brown on the breast, with barring to the flanks. Its crown is black streaked with buff and the throat is white. The overall hue in colour varies greatly over its range; in part caused by the differences in soil at the specific localities. It and the closely related Chaco nothura, N. chacoensis, are the only nothuras with barring to both webs of the primaries. The legs are dull yellowish-grey or brown.
The spotted nothura eats plants, typically seeds, and animal matter. In Argentina they seem to eat more of the animal matter then they do in other locations.[4]
This species can reproduce rapidly, as the female is mature within 2 months and can have five to six broods per year. The male does not mature as fast. The male will incubate the eggs and raise the chicks.[4] Like most tinamous, its eggs have a spectacular glossy porcelain-like shell. This is colored a rich maroon or chocolate brown in this species. The clutch contains 4-6 eggs.
All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.[4]
The spotted nothura has nine currently recognized subspecies. They are not well-distinguished and almost form a cline that varies north to south according to Gloger's and Bergmann's Rules.
The IUCN list this tinamou as Least Concern,[1] even though it is avidly hunted, due to its fast reproduction rate.[4] It has an occurrence range of 3,900,000 km2 (1,500,000 sq mi).[8]
^Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, C. D. Cadena, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, J. F. Pacheco, J. Pérez-Emán, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 1 July 2018. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 1 July 2018
Bencke, Glayson Ariel (2007): Avifauna atual do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil: aspectos biogeográficos e distribucionais ["The Recent avifauna of Rio Grande do Sul: Biogeographical and distributional aspects"]. Talk held on 2007-JUN-22 at Quaternário do RS: integrando conhecimento, Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. PDF abstract
Clements, James (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World (6th ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN978-0-8014-4501-9.
Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Tinamous". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 57–59, 65–66. ISBN0-7876-5784-0.
