The singing quail (''Dactylortyx thoracicus'') is a species of

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 ...

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 ...

, the New World quail. It is found in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The singing quail is the only member of its genus and has 11 subspecies. Several other subspecies have been proposed but have not been validated; those forms are included within the 11 accepted subspecies.Carroll, J. P., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Singing Quail (''Dactylortyx thoracicus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sinqua1.01 retrieved September 11, 2021 * ''D. t. pettingilli'' * ''D. t. thoracicus'' (Veracruz singing quail) * ''D. t. sharpei'' (Yucatán singing quail) * ''D. t. paynteri'' * ''D. t. devius'' (Jaliscan singing quail) * ''D. t. melodus'' * ''D. t. chiapensis'' (Chiapan singing quail) * ''D. t. dolichonyx'' actylortyx thoracicus calophonus* ''D. t. salvadoranus'' (Salvadorean long-toed partridge) * ''D. t. fuscus'' (Honduran long-toed partridge) * ''D. t. conoveri''

Description

The singing quail is long. Males weigh and females . The smallest birds are found near sea level and the largest in the mountains. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a dark brown crown, a buff and black "collar", and a tawny orange face with a black streak behind the eye. The back and wings are mottled gray and brown with thin white streaks; the rump is olive brown or gray and has black

vermiculation Vermiculation is a surface pattern of dense but irregular lines, so called from the Latin meaning "little worm" because the shapes resemble worms, worm casts, or worm tracks in mud or wet sand. The word may be used in a number of contexts for ...

. The breast and belly are grayish brown with white streaks and the lower belly is white. The female has a gray face and white throat and the breast and flanks are paler brown. Juveniles are similar to females but with blackish spots on the underparts. There is much variation among the other subspecies but in general those in mountain forests are darker than those in dryer lowlands.

Distribution and habitat

The singing quail is found in several separate areas in northern, western, and southern Mexico; the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

; northern Belize; much of Guatemala, and spottily in El Salvador and Honduras. In general it inhabits the floor of forests with sparse undergrowth; it is also found in older

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

, at the edges of

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

, in clear cuts, and coffee plantations. Forest types include subtropical

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 ...

and

cloudforest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, ...

. In elevation it ranges from sea level to at least .

Behavior

Feeding

The singing quail often forages in coveys of three to five birds but groups of up to 12 have been observed. It scratches for food in leaf litter and soil, feeding on bulbs, seeds, and insects.

Breeding

The singing quail's breeding season appears to span from February to October. Broods of two to four have been recorded in Yucatán. Little else is known about its 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 ...

Vocalization

The singing quail has a " ud, far-carrying, rhythmic song". It "commences with a series of hesitant, plaintive whistles, which increase in frequency and pitch into a rapidly delivered series, on varying pitch" and may be sung by several members of a covey. Coveys also give a weak twittering contact call.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the singing quail as being of Least Concern. It appears to have a population exceeding 100,000 birds, is locally common, and is "apparently more capable of withstanding habitat destruction and fragmentation than other quails" of Middle America. However, " reats include deforestation, and possibly hunting and grazing in forests."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q967158 singing quail singing quail Birds of Central America Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Guatemala Birds of El Salvador singing quail singing quail Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of the Sierra Madre Oriental Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur