The tawny-faced quail (''Rhynchortyx cinctus'') 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 ...

, the New World quail. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica,

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: ' ...

, Honduras,

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 ...

, and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The tawny-faced quail is the only member of genus ''Rhynchortyx''. It has three subspecies, the nominate ''R. c. cinctus'', ''R. c. pudibundus'', and ''R. c. australis''.

Description

The tawny-faced quail is long. A male weighed and an unsexed individual . The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a reddish face with a black streak through the eye. Its crown and hindneck are dark brown; the back and rump are gray to brown with black streaks. Its throat and upper breast are gray while the rest of the undersides are tawny buff with some white between the legs. The nominate adult female has a similar pattern but is generally browner. Its crown and back are dark brown and the rump mottled brown and chestnut. The face and upper breast are reddish brown and the eyeline, chin, and throat white. The lower breast and belly are pale with black barring. ''R. c. pudibundus'' is paler overall and ''R. c. australis'' darker.Carroll, J. P., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Tawny-faced Quail (''Rhynchortyx cinctus''), 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.tafqua1.01 retrieved September 10, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The tawny-faced quail has a discontinuous range. The nominate subspecies is found in Costa Rica and Panama. ''R. c. pudibundus'' is found in northeastern Honduras and eastern Nicaragua. ''R. c. australis'' is found on the Pacific coasts of Colombia and far northern Ecuador. The species inhabits lowland

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fore ...

up to about of elevation. It is primarily terrestrial but roosts in trees and bushes near the ground.

Behavior

Feeding

The tawny-faced quail forages by pecking. Its diet has been recorded to include seeds, worms, and insects.

Breeding

The tawny-faced quail's breeding season includes March and April in Panama but has not been documented elsewhere. Little other information about its breeding phenology has been published.

Vocalization

The tawny-faced quail's song is "a series of pure monotonous whistles followed by a series of whistles at a lower and/or higher pitch" and has been likened to that those of

tinamou Tinamous () form an order of birds called Tinamiformes (), comprising a single family called Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" come ...

s or

dove 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 ...

s. The species is often vocal at dusk but also sings while roosting at night. Members of a covey keep in contact with soft peeping calls.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the tawny-faced quail as being near threatened. It is rather rare in much of its range, and " jor threats possibly include deforestation and hunting."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1260944 tawny-faced quail tawny-faced quail Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena tawny-faced quail tawny-faced quail Taxonomy articles created by Polbot