Crypturellus soui
Silhouette: J. N. Wiegers · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The little tinamou (Crypturellus soui) is a species of tinamou. It is found in Central and South America, as well as on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The little tinamou was formally described in 1783 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann under the binomial name Tinamus soui. Hermann based his account on "Le Souï" that had been described in 1778 by the French polymath, the Comte de Buffon. A hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet was published to accompany Buffon's text. The type locality is Cayenne in French Guiana. The specific epithet soui is from the onomatopoeic name for the little tinamou that was used in the local language spoken in Cayenne.
The little tinamou is now one of 21 species placed in the genus Crypturellus that was introduced in 1914 by the British ornithologists Baron Brabourne and Charles Chubb. All tinamous are in the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also palaeognaths, a group that includes the more widely known flightless ratites such as ostriches and emus. Unlike the ratites, though, tinamous can fly, although in general they are not strong fliers. The genus name Crypturellus combines the Ancient Greek κρυπτός... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Little Tinamou sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 93 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 364th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Little Tinamou in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Tinamou sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
42nd of 45
Of the 45 parks where we can rate Little Tinamou sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 42nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 40%), Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 30%) and Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Tinamou is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (93 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
