Natural History and Breeding Behavior of the Tinamou, Nothoprocta ornata

Abstract

Nothoprocta ornata lives between 13,000 and 14,300 feet in the grass-covered hills of southern Perh. Both sexes screech when taldng flight, and a single sharp chirp is used as a location call and as a territorial call. During the breeding season the females are aggressive in their social and sexual behavior and defend the nesting and feeding areas. A pair was observed to have a territory of about 6 acres, which included both nest and feeding ground. Only the male sat on the eggs, and the female never came within 20 yards of the nest during the incuba- tion period. During courtship the members of a pair feed together, the male usually preceding. In display he raises the rump and displays the bright crissum. The female responds with a short dash to a position in front of the male and squats. Mounting may follow. Clutch size in six completed nests varied from four to nine eggs, with an average of seven. Laying females were found from February through April, although the breeding season is probably longer than this. An incubating male customarily took three recesses a day from the nest. Nothoprocta embryos are resistant to chilling. The pre- cocial young hatched on the twenty second day of our observation of a nest and left the nest permanently about 20 hours later with the brooding male. We have no evidence that the female takes any part in rearing the chicks.