The white-faced quail-dove (''Zentrygon albifacies'') 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

Columbidae Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

. It is found in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, 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 coun ...

.Soberanes-González, C. A., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, M. d. C. Arizmendi, G. M. Kirwan, and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). White-faced Quail-Dove (''Zentrygon albifacies''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.wfqdov1.01 retrieved September 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The white-faced quail-dove is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

. It was originally described in genus ''Geotrygon'', later placed in genus ''Oreopeleia'', and still later in its present ''Zentrygon''. Its relationships with the other members of its genus have not been fully resolved.

Description

The white-faced quail-dove is long. Eleven specimens had weights ranging from . Adults' crowns are gray, from very light in front fairly deep at the back and into the nape. The hindneck and sides of the neck are cinnamon; on the latter loose feathers give the impression of dark furrows. The rest of the upperparts are chestnut and the back has a bluish violet gloss. The wings are dark dusky grayish brown. The face is pale grayish buff and the chin and throat pale buff. The breast is buffy gray that pales and adds a cinnamon tone at the belly. The eye is orange to red surrounded by bare blue-gray skin. The legs and feet are red. Juveniles' crowns are pale brown, their upperparts brown with dusky bars, and the breast and sides tawny brown with dusky bars.

Distribution and habitat

The white-faced quail-dove is found discontinuously in several southern states of Mexico, much of Guatemala and Honduras, and small areas of northern El Salvador and northwestern Nicaragua. It inhabits humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

of several types including evergreen and pine-evergreen, and also shade coffee plantations. In elevation it ranges between .

Behavior

Feeding

The white-faced quail-dove forages singly or in pairs while walking on the ground, where it tends to favor dense cover. Its diet has not been documented but is assumed to be seeds, fallen fruits, and maybe insects.

Roosting

The white-faced quail-dove roosts above the ground. It typically walks along branches or hops up to the roost rather than flying. Up to eight birds have been observed roosting together.

Breeding

The whte-faced quail-dove's breeding season appears to vary within its range but has not been studied. Nests are loosely constructed of sticks and placed where they are well concealed, as high as above ground. The clutch size is two.

Vocalization

The white-faced quail-dove's song is "a low, hollow, mournful ''whoooo'' or ''whoo'oo''."

Status

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 ...

has assessed the white-faced quail-dove as being of Least Concern. However, though it has a large range, its population is believed to be declining, and it is considered by Mexican authorities to be threatened there.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27074687

white-faced quail-dove The white-faced quail-dove (''Zentrygon albifacies'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.Soberanes-González, C. A., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, M. d. C. Arizmendi, ...

Birds of Mexico Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of the Sierra Madre Oriental

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur