Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various secretive ground-dwelling birds of the family Tinamidae, living in grasslands and jungles of Central and South America.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A South American dromæognathous carinate bird; any member of the Tinamidæ, resembling a gallinaceous or rasorial bird, and playing the part of one in the countries it inhabits, where the true grouse are entirely wanting.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of South American birds belonging to Tinamus and allied genera.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of the birds belonging to the South American
family Tinamidae , the only family in theorder Tinamiformes . They are related to theratites , together with which they form thesuperorder Paleognathae .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun heavy-bodied small-winged South American game bird resembling a gallinaceous bird but related to the ratite birds
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But the flightless giants are also genetically similar to a little-known neotropical bird called a tinamou—a grouse-like creature whose short, rounded wings enable somewhat clumsy but swift, flapping flight.
Birdology Sy Montgomery 2010
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The most characteristic pampean birds are the tinamous -- called partridges in the vernacular -- the rufous tinamou, large as a fowl, and the spotted tinamou, which is about the size of the English partridge.
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In Indian literature, oral is important, as well as the worship of the tinamou.
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New genetic evidence, published by three separate teams of authors in 2006 and 2008, reveals the tinamou is not just a distant relative that retained flight long after the appearance of the giant, earth-bound species.
Birdology Sy Montgomery 2010
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They include the harpy eagle Harpia harpyja, the largest raptor in South America, the savanna hawk Buteogallus meridionalis, the jabiru Jabiru mycteria, a large water bird; and the great tinamou, Tinamus major a large land bird.
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Some of the most notable bird species of the 112 that have been recorded include Gurney's buzzard Buteo poecilochrous, Andean condor Vultur gryphus, giant hummingbird Patagona gigas peruviana, giant coot Fulica gigantea, and ornate tinamou Nothoprocta ornata.
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A few species that are endemic include the Chiribiquete emerald (Chlorostilbon olivaresi) and grey-legged tinamou (Crypturellus duidae), and tamarin (Saguinus inustus).
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One species, the great tinamou (Tinamus major), has been called
5 Chicken 1991
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It was for this same reason that the tinamou and quail and other ground-nesting birds escaped the keen noses of the foxes, otherwise they would have been exterminated long ago.
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South American species, was seen, while large numbers of plump birds of the tinamou family went drumming off through the forest at the approach of the party.
West Wind Drift George Barr McCutcheon 1897
chained_bear commented on the word tinamou
usage note on gallinaceous.
March 16, 2008