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. Etymology Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and ellus meaning diminutive. Therefore, Crypturellus means small hidden tail. Taxonomy The little tinamou is one of 21 species in the genus Crypturellus, the most species-rich genus of tinamous. 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. All palaeognaths evolved from flying ancestors. Subspecies C. s. meserythrus occurs in southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and northern and eastern Nicaragua. C. s. modestus occurs in Costa Rica and western Panama. C. s. capnodes occurs in the lowlands of northwestern Panama. C. s. poliocephalus occurs in Pacific coastal Panama; Veraguas, Herrera, Los Santos, Coclé, and western Panamá Provinces. C. s. caucae occurs in the Magdalena River valley of north central Colombia. C. s. harterti occurs on the Pacific slope of Colombia and Ecuador. C. s. mustelinus occurs in northeastern Colombia and extreme northwestern Venezuela. C. s. caquetae occurs in southeastern Colombia; Meta Department, Caquetá, Vaupés, and Guaviare Departments. C. s. nigriceps occurs in eastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru. C. s. soui occurs in eastern Colombia, eastern and southern Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and northeastern Brazil. C. s. albigularis occurs in eastern and northern Brazil. C. s. inconspicuus occurs in northern Bolivia and central and eastern Peru. C. s. andrei occurs in Trinidad and northern Venezuela; Falcón, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, Vargas, Miranda, northern Anzoátegui, Sucre, Monagas States, and the Venezuelan Capital District C. s. panamensis occurs on both coasts of Panama and the Pearl Islands of Panama (an ancient introduction). Distribution and habitat It is a resident breeder in tropical lowland forests, rivers-edge forests, lowland evergreen forest, secondary forest, and lowland shrublands at an altitude of . They are also fairly successful utilizing cleared forests and plantations or farmed land. Behavior Little tinamou are shy, secretive, and pair-solitary animals. Despite their abundance, they are rarely sighted. In the field, they are detected by sound more often than sight. The whistle call is a soft, descending whinny (also a