Spot-winged Wood-Quail
Odontophorus capueira
Plump, terrestrial partridge-like bird with a short stout bill, red eye, chestnut crown, orange eyebrow, gray throat and belly, and mottled brown back. Usually encountered in small groups scampering across the ground in lowland Atlantic Forest. Song is a loud, fast, and repetitive “kloh-kloh-klohkloh.”
Identification
Male and female spot-winged wood quails are similar in appearance but the female is slightly smaller. The bird has a reddish-brown crown with a loose crest, speckled with buff. The supercilium (stripe above the eye) and the chest-band are reddish-cinnamon. The upper parts are greyish-brown, with dark vermiculations and speckling, with the individual feathers on neck, mantle, back and scapulars having white streaks beside the shaft. The sides of the head, throat and underparts are slatey-grey. The legs are dark grey, the bill is blackish, the iris brown and the bare area around the eyes red. The length range is about 26 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in). Juveniles are similar in colouring but have reddish bills, more speckled upper parts and grey underparts flushed with rust and speckled with white.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Odontophorus capueira
- Authority
- (Spix, 1825)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Odontophoridae
- Genus
- Odontophorus
Range and habitat
The spot-winged wood quail is native to eastern and southeastern Brazil, the extreme northeastern part of Argentina and the eastern part of Paraguay. It inhabits dry lowland forest, including secondary forest, at altitudes not exceeding 1,600 m (5,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Spot-winged wood quails tend to move around on the ground by day in small groups of typically six to eight, but sometimes up to fifteen. When disturbed they move off into the undergrowth and seldom take to the wing, especially when the group includes chicks. The birds sometimes freeze and crouch. The diet includes fallen nuts of Araucaria and other trees, the berries of pokeweed and other plants and probably invertebrates. At night these birds roost well off the ground in trees. They are monogamous and breeding takes place between August and November. The nest is built on the ground with a side entrance and a roof of dead leaves. About four white eggs are laid which soon become discoloured. The female incubates the clutch, which hatch after about eighteen days, and she also rears the chicks without help.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous Woodpecker
Micropternus brachyurus
Odd medium-sized brownish woodpecker with a short dark bill. Overall coloration and wing markings vary considerably across a wide range. Males have a red patch under the eye. Gives a range of loud, insistent calls, including a sharp “weep weep weep!” Distinctive drum accelerates then trails off. Forages throughout the levels of the forest, often with mixed-species flocks. Frequently drills into ant nests.
Crissal Thrasher
Toxostoma crissale
Dark grayish thrasher with distinctive rufous undertail coverts. Bill long and strongly curved. Tail long and dark. Obvious dark line separating white mustache and white throat. Yellow eye. Secretive and uncommon, although perches conspicuously when singing. Found in brushy deserts. With a good view, easily distinguished from more common Curve-billed Thrasher by darker gray color and rufous undertail coverts. Listen for jumbled, rambling song.
Chimango Caracara
Daptrius chimango
Noisy, conspicuous, and often a common scavenger in habitats ranging from towns and cities to open forest, farmland, and beaches; ecological counterpart to crows. Often in groups, locally of tens or even hundreds, feeding on the ground or tumbling and sailing with agile flight; often chases and mobs larger raptors. Plumage brownish overall, often with gingery tones, and with variable paler dappling above and fine barring below. Bold creamy white wing panels and tail base striking in flight.
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