[3] This superficially quail-like bird has a grey-brown plumage and two easily separated subspecies.

[4][6] Like other tinamous, the yellow-legged tinamou eats fruit off the ground or low-lying bushes.

They also eat small amounts of invertebrates, flower buds, tender leaves, seeds, and roots.

[8] The yellow-legged tinamou suffers from widespread and continuing habitat destruction and hunting pressure.

[8] There are no recent records from parts of its range, and it appears to have been extirpated from Rio de Janeiro.