Montezuma quail Cyrtonyx montezumae

Identification Tips:

• Length: 7 inches
• Small, stocky, round-winged, ground-dwelling bird
• Short, rounded, brown tail

Adult male:

• Bold black and white face pattern
• Buffy crest that projects backward over nape
• Belly dark brown
• Flanks and sides of breast gray with white spots
• Back brown with buffy streaks
• Wing coverts brown with black spots

Adult female:

• Plumage dull brown, darker on upperparts
• Semblance of face pattern of male but mottled brown and buffy
• Buffy crest on nape

Similar species:

The plumage and head shape are quite unlike any other quail. Female somewhat similar to female Northern Bobwhite but has a darker belly.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.