Darwin's nothura facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Darwin's nothura |
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| Illustration by Joseph Smit, 1895 | |
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| Genus: |
Nothura
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| Species: |
darwinii
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N. d. darwinii |
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The Darwin's nothura (scientific name: Nothura darwinii) is a special kind of bird called a tinamou. You can usually find it in the high grasslands of the southern Andes mountains in South America.
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Why it's Called Darwin's Nothura
This bird is named after a famous English scientist, Charles Darwin. He was a very important naturalist who studied nature. The bird was named to remember his work.
What Kind of Bird is it?
Darwin's nothura belongs to a bird family called Tinamidae. These birds are also part of a bigger group called ratites. Ratites are birds that usually cannot fly, like ostriches or emus. But tinamous are special because they can fly! They are not super strong fliers, but they can get off the ground.
Scientists believe that all ratites came from birds that could fly a long, long time ago. Tinamous are the closest living relatives to those ancient flying birds.
Different Types of Darwin's Nothura
There are five slightly different types, or subspecies, of Darwin's nothura. Each one lives in a specific part of South America:
- N. d. darwinii: This type lives in the Patagonian steppes (grassy plains) in south-central Argentina.
- N. d. peruviana: You can find this one in southern Peru, especially in the Urubamba Valley in the Cusco Region.
- N. d. agassizii: This type lives in the high plains (called the altiplano) of southeastern Peru and western Bolivia.
- N. d. boliviana: This one is found in the highlands of western Bolivia. It lives in areas like Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Potosí, Oruro, and Tarija.
- N. d. salvadorii: This type lives in western Argentina.
What Does it Look Like?
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The Darwin's nothura is about 26 centimeters (10 inches) long. It looks a bit like another bird called the spotted nothura. However, the Darwin's nothura has more reddish-brown colors and wider stripes on its belly.
Its upper body is brown with buff-colored (light yellowish-brown) streaks. Its lower body has chestnut-colored (dark reddish-brown) streaks, and its chest is black. The sides of its body have bars or stripes. Its head is black with buff streaks, and its throat is white.
How it Behaves
Like other tinamous, the Darwin's nothura mostly eats fruit that it finds on the ground or on low bushes. They also snack on small amounts of invertebrates (like insects), flower buds, soft leaves, seeds, and roots.
When it's time to have babies, the male nothura takes on a big job. He incubates the eggs, which might come from different females. After the chicks hatch, he raises them until they are old enough to live on their own. The nest is usually built on the ground, hidden in thick bushes or between large tree roots.
Is it in Danger?
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) says that the Darwin's nothura is a species of "Least Concern." This means that it is not currently in danger of disappearing. These birds live across a very large area, about 1,100,000 square kilometers (420,000 square miles).
