Bird name:

Montezuma Quail

Cyrtonyx montezumaeOrder: GALLIFORMES Family: Quails (Odontophoridae)

Codes: Common Name: MONQ Scientific Name: CYRMON ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175900

Montezuma Quail - The male Montezuma Quail has a solid rufous belly with heavily white spotted sides. The upperparts are complexly barred and streaked. Face is boldly patterned black and white; head has a rounded light brown crest.

Montezuma Quail Female - The female Montezuma Quail is brown mottled overall with tiny white streaks. Head markings are less distinct.

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Montezuma Quail

Montezuma Quail: Odd, plump quail with short tail, complexly buff-barred and streaked dark upperparts, and heavily white spotted dark underparts divided by a wide rufous-brown stripe from breast to tail. Face is boldly patterned black and white; head has a rounded light brown crest.

● Song: No data available.

● Foraging & Feeding: Montezuma Quail: Feeds on hillsides with dense cover, looking for seeds, underground tubers, and acorns.

● Breeding & nesting: Montezuma Quail: Builds nest on ground in a variety of grasslands and woodlands in semiarid areas, sometimes constructs a woven canopy of dried plant parts over the nest. Both parents incubate the six to fourteen white or cream eggs for 24 to 26 days. Chicks leave nest immediately after hatching and begin foraging with adults, can make first short flights at 5 weeks.

● Similar species:

Flight Pattern

Alternates series of powerful deep wing beats with long glides.

● Range & Habitat: Montezuma Quail: Uncommon and local on hillsides of oak and pine woodlands and dense shrubs in the southwest.

^BreedingSolitary nester

^PopulationUncommon and local

^MigrationMost do not migrate

^Weight6.9 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Montezuma Quail

Montezuma Quail

Flight Pattern