(Credit: U. S. Geological Survey)

Northern Bobwhite - Colinus virginianus

Identification Tips:

  1. Length: 8 inches
  2. Small, chunky, short-tailed, round-winged, ground-dwelling bird
  3. Slight crest at top of head

Adult male:

  1. White chin and supercilium
  2. Black cap, eyeline, nape and throat
  3. Reddish-brown body stippled with white and black spots
  4. Pale belly

Adult female:

  1. Buff throat and supercilium
  2. Dark cap, eyeline, nape and throat
  3. Reddish-brown body with darker back
  4. Black and white streaks and chevrons about underparts and back
  5. Pale belly

"Masked Bobwhite":

  1. Dark face
  2. Unmarked cinnamon breast and belly
  3. Reintroduced with limited success to southeast Arizona

Similar species:

Female Montezuma Quail may resemble Northern Bobwhite, but has a head that appears helmeted rather than crested. Montezuma Quail also lacks the strongly contrasting supercilium and throat of Northern Bobwhite and has a darker belly.