The buff-fronted quail-dove, or Costa Rican quail-dove (''Zentrygon costaricensis''), is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals 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 Costa Rica 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 ...

.Schulenberg, T. S. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Buff-fronted Quail-Dove (''Zentrygon costaricensis''), 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.bfqdov1.01 retrieved September 23, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The buff-fronted quail-dove 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. The buff-fronted 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 "unispec ...

Description

The buff-fronted quail-dove is long. Two males weighed and two females . The adult's head, neck, and breast are medium gray, the nape and upper back have a green tinge while the belly grades to brownish. The back, wings and tail are maroon. The head has a distinct pattern of light gray cheeks bordered above and below by narrow black stripes that extend just past the eye, as well as the namesake buffy forehead ("front"). The eye is brown surrounded by a slim but noticeable red ring, the legs are bright coral-red, and the bill is dull brown with a reddish cast at the base. The juvenile's crown and nape are dusky gray with a green gloss. Its upperparts are dull chestnut with indistinct dusky bars and cinnamon tips to the feathers. Its underparts have gray and cinnamon bars and freckles and the belly is buff.

Distribution and habitat

The buff-fronted quail-dove is a year round resident from northern Costa Rica's Cordillera de Guanacaste southeast into western Panama as far as

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&n ...

. It inhabits the Talamancan montane forest ecoregion. In elevation it ranges from in Costa Rica and from in Panama.

Behavior

Feeding

The buff-fronted quail-dove forages alone or in pairs, searching leaf litter on the forest floor. Its diet is not well known but includes fruit, seeds, and probably insects.

Breeding

Little is known about the buff-fronted quail-dove's breeding

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

. The one described nest was a nearly flat platform made of coarse twigs, moss, and

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ...

s. It was almost above the ground on a horizontal branch of a tall shrub and contained one nestling.

Vocalization

The buff-fronted quail-dove's song is "a low, hollow hoOOOO", louder towards the end and with a slightly rising inflection".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the buff-fronted quail-dove as being of Least Concern. Though it has a relatively small range, it is fairly common in it and its population appears to be stable.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q27074685 buff-fronted quail-dove Birds of the Talamancan montane forests buff-fronted quail-dove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot