The Yucatan bobwhite or black-throated bobwhite (''Colinus nigrogularis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Odontophoridae The New World quail are small birds only distantly related to the Old World quail, but named for their similar appearance and habits. The American species are in their own family, the Odontophoridae, whereas Old World quail are in the pheasant ...

. It is found in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, Guatemala, Honduras,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

, coastal

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

s and heavily degraded former forest. A specific example of occurrence is the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatan.

Description

The male and female Yucatan bobwhite differ in appearance. They are compact, ground-dwelling birds about in length. The male has a black throat edged with white, a white forehead, a black eyestripe and a black crown. The upper neck, mantle and flanks are reddish-brown liberally speckled with white. The rest of the upper parts are brownish, barred withreddish-brown and grey. The underparts have a scalloped appearance as the white feathers are edged with black. The lower belly and under-tail coverts are cinnamon. The female is similar in appearance but the hind neck and mantle are black with paler speckling, the throat is buff and the breast and belly are white barred with reddish-brown and black.

Distribution and habitat

The Yucatan bobwhite is native to Central America where its range extends from the Yucatan Peninsula southwards to Honduras and Nicaragua. Its typical habitat is clearings in forests, pine savannah, rough grassland, weedy fields and plantations of henequen (''Agave fourcroydes'').

Status

The Yucatan bobwhite has an extensive range and is relatively common. The population size is believed to be stable and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

* World Wildlife Fund. 2010
''Petenes mangroves''
eds. Mark McGinley, C.Michael Hogan & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC {{Taxonbar, from=Q262180 Yucatan bobwhite Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Least concern biota of North America Yucatan bobwhite Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of Mexico