Spotted wood-quail

Odontophorus guttatus

Photo by Micah Riegner (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
spotted wood-quail (en); uru-malhado (pt); tocro tacheté (fr); corcovado goteado (es); tropfenwachtel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Galliformes
Family Odontophoridae

Range:
This species is found in southern Mexico, in Veracruz and Chiapas, and also in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and western Panama.

Size:
These birds are 23-26,5 cm and weigh 280-300 g.

Habitat:
The spotted wood-quail is mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical rainforests, but also in secondary forests, at altitudes of 100-3.000 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground, taking fallen fruits, seeds, buds, tubers and also the larvae and pupae of mosquitoes and beetles.

Breeding:
Spotted wood-quails breed in May-August. They nest on the ground and the female lays 4 white or creamy-white eggs with brown spots, which are incubated for about 17 days. There is no information regarding the fledgling period.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 20.000-50.000 individuals. Despite its ability to tolerate some habitat degradation, this species is declining owing to habitat loss and, possibly, unsustainable hunting levels, but it is not considered threatened at present.