Great Tinamou

Great Tinamou

Tinamus major

Silhouette: George Edward Lodge · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at San José

In 3 days <5%

6 Verified sightings at San José
14,154 In all 42 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Great Tinamou

The great tinamou (Tinamus major) is a species of tinamou ground bird native to Central and South America. There are several subspecies, mostly differentiated by their coloration. The great tinamou was described and illustrated in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. Marcgrave used the name Macucagua. The French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon described and illustrated the great tinamou in 1778 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from specimens collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. He simplified Marcgrave's name to Magoua. When in 1788 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, he included the great tinamou and placed it with all the grouse like birds in the genus Tetrao. He coined the binomial name Tetrao major and cited the earlier authors. The great tinamou is now placed with four other species in the genus Tinamus that was introduced in 1783 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann. Hermann based his name on "Les Tinamous" used by Buffon. The word "Tinamú" in the Carib language of French Guiana was used for the tinamous.

All tinamous are from the... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:00

Ecuador · 2026

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1163315 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:15

Costa Rica · 2025

© Chris Harrison · XC1028543 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:45

Brazil · 2025

© Joost van Bruggen · XC1050491 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Brownsberg Nature Park 🇸🇷 Suriname
~40%
2 Corcovado National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
3 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇧🇿 Belize
~30%
4 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
5 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
6 Piedras Blancas National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~30%
7 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~30%
8 Tikal National Park 🇬🇹 Guatemala
~20%
9 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
10 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~20%
11 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~20%
12 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~20%
13 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~10%
14 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
~10%
15 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
16 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
17 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
18 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
19 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
20 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
21 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
22 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
23 Marino Ballena National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
24 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
~10%
25 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
26 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
27 Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
28 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
29 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
30 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
31 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
32 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
33 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
34 Biotopo Cerro Cahuí 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%
35 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
36 Cusuco National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
37 Lago de Yojoa 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
38 Calakmul Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
39 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
40 Poás Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
41 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
42 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
2 San José 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 El Nispero Zoo 🇵🇦 Panama In captivity
2 Dallas World Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
3 Zooparque Itatiba 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Great Tinamou in San José?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Great Tinamou sighting in San José on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 346th most-seen of the 379 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Great Tinamou in San José?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Great Tinamou in San José on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Great Tinamou?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great 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.

Is San José the best place to see a Great Tinamou?

Among the best

Of the 2 cities where we can rate Great Tinamou sightings, San José ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Panama City (Panama, under 5%).

Where does the Great Tinamou sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Great Tinamou is recorded against all the birds logged in San José (6 verified sightings), 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.

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