Northern bobwhite Colinus virginianus

Identification Tips:

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

Adult male:

• White chin and supercilium
• Black cap, eyeline, nape and throat
• Reddish-brown body stippled with white and black spots
• Pale belly

Adult female:

• Buff throat and supercilium
• Dark cap, eyeline, nape and throat
• Reddish-brown body with darker back
• Black and white streaks and chevrons about underparts and back
• Pale belly

"Masked Bobwhite":

• Dark face
• Unmarked cinnamon breast and belly
• 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.

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