The rare gorgeted wood quail (''Odontophorus strophium'') is a small ground-dwelling bird. This tiny member of the New World quail family has been found in the larger oak forest remnants in the eastern

Cordillera A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly us ...

( Serrania de Yariguies and NorAndino Oak Forest Corridor) section of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Its natural habitat is humid

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

and temperate forests that have mainly

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

trees. The bird has only been sighted between the altitudes of 1,750-2,050 m, but it is believed that this tiny quail may have an elevational range of 1,500-2,500 m. It is probably dependent on

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

for a part of its life-cycle, yet it has also been sited in degraded habitats and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. It forages for fruit, seeds and

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s. The bird's breeding season seems to coincide with peaks in annual rainfall in March–May and September–November. It was formerly classified as Critically Endangered by the

IUCN 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 natu ...

. But new research has shown it to be not as rare as it was believed. Consequently, it is downlisted to

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

status in 2008.BLI (2008)

Feeding

The Gorgeted quail eats insects and nuts especially in summer, as well as plants. Unlike many other bird species, they require a high protein diet.

References

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(BLI) (2008)
[2008 IUCN Redlist status changes]
Retrieved 2008-MAY-23.

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
Odontophorus">gorgeted wood quail The rare gorgeted wood quail (''Odontophorus strophium'') is a small ground-dwelling bird. This tiny member of the New World quail family has been found in the larger oak forest remnants in the eastern Cordillera ( Serrania de Yariguies and NorA ...