Crested bobwhite: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Species of bird}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Colinus cristatus -Curacao, Netherlands Antilles-8a.jpg

| image_caption = On [[Curaçao]], Netherlands Antilles

| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Colinus cristatus'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T45093141A132037999 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T45093141A132037999.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>

| genus = Colinus

| species = cristatus

| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)

| synonyms = * ''Tetrao cristatus'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1766}}

| range_map = Colinus cristatus map.svg

}}

The '''crested bobwhite''' ('''''Colinus cristatus''''') is a species of [[bird]] in the family [[Odontophoridae]]. It is found in northern [[South America]], extending through [[Panama]] to just reach [[Costa Rica]]. It also occurs on [[Aruba]] and the [[Netherlands Antilles]]. Its natural [[habitat]]s are subtropical or tropical dry [[shrubland]], subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland [[grassland]], and heavily degraded former forest.

[[File:Colinus cristatus.jpg|left|thumb|Painting]]

Adult crested bobwhite are about {{convert|178|to|216|mm|in|1}} long. The sexes are very similar in appearance. The long feathers on the fore-head and crown are pale buff or white, and the crest feathers may be dark. The back and sides of the neck are marbled in black and white and the throat is white or buff, sometimes spotted with black. The upper parts are mottled black, brown and grey. The underparts are pale, with buff, cinnamon and black markings. The eye is brown, the beak black and the legs bluish-grey. The female is slightly browner than the male.<ref name="Blake1977">{{cite book|author=Emmet Reid Blake|title=Manual of Neotropical Birds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YP0AX3LW8jYC&pg=PA447 |date=1 July 1977 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-05641-8 |page=447}}</ref>

==Behaviour==

The crested bobwhite occurs in small groups on the ground in or near thick cover and its behaviour is rather similar to that of the [[northern bobwhite]] (''Colinus virginianus''). The diet consists of buds, shoots, leaves and small invertebrates. The male's call, heard in the breeding season, is distinctive; a fast, husky, three-syllable "quoit bob-white" or a two-syllable "oh, wheet".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert S. Ridgely|author2=John A. Gwynne|title=A Guide to the Birds of Panama: With Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H9INVOMUgOAC&pg=PA118 |date=June 1992 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-02512-6 |page=118}}</ref>

==Status==

The crested bobwhite has a very wide range and is common in much of that range. The population seems to be on the increase and the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has assessed its conservation status as being of "[[Least-concern species|least concern]]".<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" />

==Subspecies==

* ''C. c. mariae'' Wetmore 1962 (Tres Marias crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. panamensis'' Dickey & van Rossem 1930 (Panamanian crested quail)

* ''C. c. decoratus'' (Todd 1917) (Magdalena crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. littoralis'' (Todd 1917) (littoral crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. cristatus'' (Linnaeus, 1766)

* ''C. c. horvathi'' (Madarász 1904) (Horvath's crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. barnesi'' Gilliard 1940 (Barnes' crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. sonnini'' (Temminck 1815) (Sonnini's crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. mocquerysi'' (Hartert 1894) (Mocquerys's/Cumana crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. leucotis'' (Gould 1844) (white-eared crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. badius'' Conover 1938 (Cauca Valley crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. bogotensis'' Dugand 1943 (Bogotá crested bobwhite)

* ''C. c. parvicristatus'' (Gould 1843) (short-crested bobwhite)

{{Taxonbar|from=Q961494}}

[[Category:Colinus|crested bobwhite]]

[[Category:Birds of Panama]]

[[Category:Birds of Colombia]]

[[Category:Birds of Venezuela]]

[[Category:Birds of the Netherlands Antilles]]

[[Category:Birds of the Guiana Shield]]

[[Category:Birds described in 1766|crested bobwhite]]

[[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]

[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]

[[Category:Birds of the Caribbean]]