The black-breasted wood quail (''Odontophorus leucolaemus'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

species in the family

Odontophoridae The New World quail are small birds, that despite their similar appearance and habits to the Old World quail, belong to a different family known as the Odontophoridae. In contrast, the Old World quail are in the Phasianidae family, sharing only ...

. It is found in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

Taxonomy

The black-breasted wood quail is one of 15 species in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Odontophorus''. Within the genus, it is a part of the dusky wood quail

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, and is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the

Venezuelan wood quail The Venezuelan wood quail (''Odontophorus columbianus'') is a bird species in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in the Venezuelan Coastal Range. Taxonomy and systematics Some authors have suggested that the Venezuela ...

gorgeted wood quail The rare gorgeted wood quail (''Odontophorus strophium'') is a small ground-dwelling bird. This tiny member of the New World quail family has been found in the larger oak forest remnants in the eastern Cordillera ( Serrania de Yariguies and NorA ...

Tacarcuna wood quail The Tacarcuna wood quail (''Odontophorus dialeucos'') is a species of bird in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in Colombia and Panama. Taxonomy and systematics Some authors have suggested that the Tarcarcuna wood qu ...

, and the

black-fronted wood quail The black-fronted wood quail (''Odontophorus atrifrons'') is a bird species in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics Some authors have suggested that the black-fronted wo ...

. The generic name ''Odontophorus'' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''odontophoros'', meaning tooth-bearing. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''leucolaemus'' is from the Greek ''leukos'', meaning white, and ''laimos'', meaning throat. Alternative names for the species include white-throated wood quail. The species is monotypic. Populations around

Dota ''Dota'' is a series of strategy video games. The series began in 2003 with the release of ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) custom map for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Ch ...

have sometimes been split as a distinct subspecies, ''O. l. smithianus'' on the basis of differences in plumage, but they are generally considered a

melanistic Melanism is the congenital excess of melanin in an organism resulting in dark pigment. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, identifiable by dark spots or enlarged stripes, which cover a large part of the bod ...

morph.

Description

The black-breasted wood quail is a medium-sized species of

New World quail The New World quail are small birds, that despite their similar appearance and habits to the Old World quail, belong to a different family known as the Odontophoridae. In contrast, the Old World quail are in the Phasianidae family, sharing only a ...

, being in length and weighing on average for females and for males. Although males are larger than females, the sexes are otherwise similar and can not visually be distinguished.

Distribution and habitat

The black-breasted wood quail is found in Costa Rica and

. However, it has not been recorded from Panama since 1933, and may be

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

from there.

Behaviour and ecology

Like other ''Odontophorus'' species, the black-breasted wood quail is

gregarious Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother was ...

year-round and usually travels in coveys of 10–15 individuals in undergrowth on forested slopes. These feed together over small areas throughout the day, and come together at dusk to roost in low branches. They also defend group territories together by calling back and forth with neighboring coveys, most often just after dawn, and displaying aggressively at the boundaries of their territories. Unlike other species in the genus, they do not vocalize at dusk. The species is shy and walks away in the undergrowth when approached, only flushing reluctantly. Little is known about its diet. However, it may feed on plant matter, supplementing its diet with insects. The black-breasted wood quail's breeding habits are poorly known, but the species is most likely

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...

. Cooperative breeding has also been recorded in the species. Nesting occurs at the start of the rainy season in May and June, but vocal activity is most intense from March-April. Nests are round hollows in leaf litter, with their entrances pointing slightly downwards, and are guarded by parties of adults. Eggs are laid in

clutches A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does the ...

of 4–6 eggs, and are white in color, eventually staining brown. Incubation takes 16–17 days.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1263378

black-breasted wood quail The black-breasted wood quail (''Odontophorus leucolaemus'') is a bird species in the family Odontophoridae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Taxonomy The black-breaste ...

Endemic birds of the Talamancan montane forests

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot