Since 2004 · Licensed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT)

Slaty-breasted Tinamou (Crypturellus boucardi)
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist
Slaty-breasted Tinamou

Family Tinamidae

Slaty-breasted Tinamou

Crypturellus boucardi

In Spanish: Tinamú Pizarroso (Gallina de monte Patirroja)

  • Resident

Shy red-legged forest-floor bird of the Caribbean lowlands

The Slaty-breasted Tinamou is a locally resident bird, common in the northern Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. It lives on the ground and slips away quietly, so most encounters begin with a sound.

On a trip we build around the Sarapiqui area, La Selva is probably the easiest place to meet it. Patience and a slow, quiet walk matter more than anything else.

How to find it

Tinamous sing at dawn and dusk, so track a singing bird, carry a flashlight, and walk slowly and quietly without talking. You may get close to one beside the trail. Watch for them at ant swarms and under fruiting trees. Many call from lowland rainforest, perhaps most where treefall gaps or other thick understory give cover. Playback often works poorly and can over-harass the birds.

How to recognise it

In Costa Rica it has dark plumage, a greyish neck and breast, and red legs. Leg colour, habitat and voice are the keys to telling it from other tinamous. Across its range it has a white throat and a slaty grey breast, with a dark back and head. The bill is dark above and yellow below, and the legs run from pink to bright red. Females have barring on the wings. Its plumage blends with the leaf litter, so it is hard to spot, and it often stays motionless when it feels threatened.

Behaviour and diet

It lives on the ground and is usually alone. When threatened it tends to slip away quietly or freeze. It eats fallen fruit and seeds, including palm seeds, as well as ants and other insects, and sometimes small lizards and frogs. A La Selva study found it moving about alone among different habitat types. Tinamous tend to sing from the shadows rather than run into the open.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is a Caribbean slope bird of humid lowland forest, common in the north and ranging south as far as Limón. In some places it climbs to about 700 m, and it reaches the Pacific slope through certain mountain passes between the Guanacaste volcanoes. A camera trap in Área de Conservación Guanacaste photographed one at about 346 m. It favours dense low vegetation in wet forest and advanced second growth.

When to see it

It is a non-migratory resident, so it can be found in suitable habitat in any month. Tinamous sing at dawn and dusk.

Similar birds

Great Tinamou is brown with greyish legs and larger than a chicken, and it sings tremulous notes rather than low whistles. In dry forest, the single whistle of the Thicket Tinamou replaces this bird's low whistles, and the Thicket has barred upperparts and rufous tones.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The official Spanish name is Tinamú Pizarroso, with the local name Gallina de monte Patirroja, which means red-legged mountain hen. Tinamous in Costa Rica are often called Gallina de monte, with the larger species also called Gongolonas and the smaller ones Yerre.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Photography tips

Tinamous are shy, secretive and dark, and their plumage blends with the leaf litter. They often stay motionless when threatened, so scan slowly and quietly beside trails. It is hard to see on dark forest floors.

How we know this 18 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Ecos del Bosque read 2026-11-04https://ecosdelbosque.com/fauna/crypturellus-boucardi
  2. Área de Conservación Guanacaste read 2026-11-04https://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/paginas-de-especies/insectos-2/762-tinamidae/6461-i-tinamus-major-i-tinamidae
  3. Aves Ibéricas (Aves Costa Rica) read 2026-11-04https://www.avesibericas.es/costaricaaves1.htm
  4. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaty-breasted_tinamou
  5. Planet of Birds read 2026-11-04https://planetofbirds.com/tinamiformes-tinamidae-slaty-breasted-tinamou-crypturellus-boucardi/
  6. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/slbtin1/cur/introduction
  7. Animal Diversity Web read 2026-11-04https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crypturellus_boucardi/
  8. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/slbtin1/cur/introduction?lang=es
  9. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2009/10/21/how-to-see-tinamous-in-costa-rica/
  10. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2021/08/30/tinamous-in-costa-rica-how-common-are-they/
  11. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/tag/slaty-breasted-tinamou/
  12. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2016/03/09/looking-for-tinamous/
  13. Birdpedia read 2026-11-04https://birdpedia.co.uk/birds/slaty-breasted-tinamou/
  14. Lista Oficial de las Aves de Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://listaoficialavesdecostarica.wordpress.com/lista-oficial/lista-oficial-online/
  15. Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://www.avesdecostarica.org/tinamidae.html
  16. Uniciencia (Universidad Nacional) read 2026-11-04https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/4759/475948929011.pdf
  17. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boucard's_Tinamou
  18. Municipalidad de Turrialba read 2026-11-04https://www.muniturrialba.go.cr/docs/turismo/Guia%20de%20Aves%20de%20Turrialba%202020.pdf