Ocellated Quail
Cyrtonyx ocellatus
Small, elusive quail of brushy pine-oak woods in drier highlands; favors areas with oak scrub and bunchgrass. Usually in small groups; rarely flushes until almost stepped on. It can be seen beside quiet roads and trails, mainly early and late in day, but it usually remains well hidden in cover. Male has striking harlequin face pattern and rusty underparts with complex patterning. Female has a bushy crest and a trace of the male’s facial pattern. Similar species: female Crested Bobwhite.
Identification
The ocellated quail is 20.5 to 23 cm (8.1 to 9.1 in) long. Males weigh an estimated 218 g (7.7 oz) and females an estimated 182 g (6.4 oz). The adult male's face has a black and white harlequin pattern. Its crown and nape are buffy brown to olive brown with a thick tawny crest on the rear of the crown. The throat is white with black stripes. Its upperparts are gray and brown with cinnamon stripes and black spots. The central breast is tawny cinnamon and its edges gray with cinnamon spots. The belly is a deeper cinnamon, the flanks gray with cinnamon scallops, and the vent area black. The female's face is buffy and black, the crest tawny, and the upperparts brown with buff lines. The breast and belly are wine red with black bars and spots.
Taxonomy
The ocellated quail shares genus Cyrtonyx with the Montezuma quail (C. montezumae) and Salle’s quail (C. sallei). It is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Cyrtonyx ocellatus
- Authority
- (Gould, 1837)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Odontophoridae
- Genus
- Cyrtonyx
Range and habitat
The ocellated quail is or was found in far southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and possibly Nicaragua. Only in Guatemala have there been a significant number of sightings since the late 1900s, with none in El Salvador and in Nicaragua only a c. 1900 specimen and a few early 2000s sight records near the Honduran border. It inhabits shrubland and open pine and oak forest, generally between 750 and 3,050 m (2,460 and 10,010 ft) of elevation.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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