Starred Wood-Quail
Odontophorus stellatus
Rotund brown bird of lowland rainforest understory. Reddish brown with small gray spots. Males have a dull red and gray facial pattern. Usually found in groups, but occasionally encountered singly or in pairs. Secretive and hard to see, but occasionally encountered foraging on the ground or flushing underfoot. Frequently heard after dusk and more rarely just before dawn, when pairs or groups sing in symphony, a series of continuous low caroling notes.
Identification
The starred wood quail is between about 24 and 28 cm (9.4 and 11.0 in) long, males being slightly larger than females. The bill is blackish, the irises brown and the legs grey, and the long feathers on the back of the head form a pronounced crest, reddish-brown in the male and brownish-black in the female. Other than this, the sexes are very similar in appearance; the front of the crown is dark brown and the rest of the head, neck, throat and mantle is grey. The general colour of the upper parts is olive-brown, marked with darker vermiculations, paler on the rump and darker on the wings and scapulars, with large black markings on the flight feathers and pale speckling on the wing coverts. The underparts are reddish-brown with white speckling on the sides of the breast and dark barring near the vent. The juvenile is similar but has an orange or reddish bill.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Odontophorus stellatus
- Authority
- (Gould, 1843)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Odontophoridae
- Genus
- Odontophorus
Range and habitat
The species is native to eastern Ecuador, much of Peru, western Brazil and northern Bolivia. It is typically found in moist lowland forests, including terre firme forests, flooding areas and transitional areas, below about 1,050 m (3,445 ft) (lower in Ecuador).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
A retiring and elusive bird, its presence in an area is disclosed by its distinctive two-syllable call, korkorralo, korkorralo, korkorralo, which it utters repeatedly at dusk. The birds form coveys of five to eight and cross open ground in single file, keeping close to dense cover into which they can run if disturbed. They forage through the leaf litter for invertebrates and fruits. Little is known about their breeding habits.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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