The white-throated quail-dove (''Zentrygon frenata'') 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 lightweigh ...

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

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The white-throated quail-dove's taxonomic history is complicated. It was originally described in genus ''Geotrygon'', later erroneously given the binomial ''Oreopeleia bourcieri'', and still later attained its present

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...

. The four subspecies below are currently recognized. ''Z. f. boucieri'' was at one time treated as separate species by some authors. Additional subspecies have been proposed but are now generally accepted as color morphs or individual variations of one of the four accepted subspecies.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). White-throated Quail-Dove (''Zentrygon frenata''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.wtqdov1.01 retrieved September 24, 2021 The four subspecies of white-throated quail-dove are the nominate ''Z. f. frenata'', ''Z. f. bourcieri'', ''Z. f. subgrisea'', and ''Z. f. margaritae''.

Description

The white-throated quail-dove is long and weighs about , making it among the largest quail-doves. The adult nominate male's forehead and the lower part of the face are buff and the crown blue-gray. The mantle is deep purple and the rest of the upperparts reddish brown. The throat is white, the breast gray, and the belly and flanks dark buff. Females are browner rather than gray; juveniles are similar to the female with the addition of dark barring on both the upper and underparts. The other subspecies differ somewhat in the colors of their heads.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of white-throated quail-dove are found from north to south thus: * ''Z. f. bourcieri'' - western Colombia and western and eastern Ecuador * ''Z. f. subgrisea'' - southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru * ''Z. f. frenata'' - northern Peru to central Bolivia * ''Z. f. margaritae'' - southern Bolivia and far northwestern Argentina They inhabit humid evergreen

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 ...

in the Andes, usually between but sometimes as low as .

Behavior

Feeding

The white-throated quail-dove forages on the ground, usually alone but sometimes with one or two other birds. Its diet has not been documented.

Breeding

The white-throated quail-dove's breeding season appears to vary across its range. One documented nest was a flat platform placed above ground in a tangle of vegetation; it contained one egg. Essentially nothing else is known about its breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

Vocalization

The white-throated quail-dove's song is "a single monotonous low-pitched note ''whoOOo'', with highest amplitude in the middle."

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-throated quail-dove as being of Least Concern. Its population is suspected to be stable but has not been quantified. Little is known about its biology and ecology and it appears to be patchily distributed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27074689

white-throated quail-dove The white-throated quail-dove (''Zentrygon frenata'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The white-throated quail-dove's taxonomic history ...

Birds of the Northern Andes

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot