Abundance (Guide)
North American game bird, released in large numbers on estates in Suffolk, the Cottswalds and Isles of Scilly, for shooting. Some now breeding wild.
Habitat
In North America, brushy, weedy early successional habitats interspersed with agriculture.
Canada (B), Cuba (B) (NB), Guatemala (B), Mexico (B), USA (B).
Introduced to Bahamas (B), China (mainland), Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Italy, New Zealand (E), Portugal (B), Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands (U.S.) (E) (B).
From the Gulf of Mexico north to South Dakota, southern Minnesota, southern Ontario and south-western Maine.
Population
Estimated population is 9,200,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status NT
Habitat fragmentation due to changes in land use and lack of rescribed burns, and hunting are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Habits
Usually in coveys of 8 - 20.
Food
Grains and seeds of weeds.
Voice
A whistle 'bob-white' or 'poor bob-white', the last note loud and ringing. A shrill 'ka-loi-kee' uttered in the covey and answered by 'whoil-kee'.
Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) [XC317097]
by Manuel Grosselet from McClellanville, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States (call)
Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) [XC624445]
by Francesco Sottile from Grady, Montgomery County, Alabama, United States (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
March - September, with a peak in May - July, in North America. Females will usually mate with more than one male in a season.
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Nest
A shallow depression in the ground, lined with grass or leaves, under overhanging vegetation.
Eggs (Guide)
7 - 28, usually 12 - 16; dull white or cream; oval; about 31 x 25 mm. Incubation: about 23 days.
Young
Precoccial. Fledge in about 105 days, but remain with parents through the autumn and winter.
Subspecies
Colinus virginianus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was provisionally split into Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginianus) and Colinus ridgwayi by Stotz et al. (1996) but this treatment has not been adopted by BirdLife International (2005).
Sometimes considered conspecific with Black-throated Bobwhite (Colinus nigrogularis). Several subspecies have at times been considered full species. Validity of subspecies nelsoni questionable.
The following 23 subspecies are recognised:
marilandicus (Linnaeus, 1758) - South-eastern Maine to central Virginia, north-eastern USA.
virginianus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Virginia to northern Florida and west to Alabama, eastern USA.
floridanus (Coues, 1872) - Peninsular Florida, eastern USA.
cubanensis (Gray, GR, 1846) - Cuba and I of Pines.
mexicanus (Linnaeus, 1766) - Eastern USA; west of marilandicus and east of taylori.
taylori Lincoln, 1915 - South Dakota to northern Texas to western Missouri, central USA.
texanus (Lawrence, 1853) - South-western Texas, USA, and Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, north-eastern Mexico.
ridgwayi Brewster, 1885 - North-central Sonora, Mexico; reintroduced to south-eastern Arizona, south-western USA, where extirpated in past. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Masked Bobwhite (Colinus ridgwayi).
maculatus Nelson, 1899 - Central Tamaulipas to northern Veracruz and south-eastern San Luis Potosí, north-eastern Mexico.
aridus Aldrich, 1942 - Central Tamaulipas to south-eastern San Luis Potosí, north-eastern Mexico.
graysoni (Lawrence, 1867) - South-eastern Nayarit and southern Jalisco to Morelos, southern Hidalgo and south-central San Luis Potosí, central Mexico.
nigripectus Nelson, 1897 - Puebla, Morelos and México (state), Mexico.
pectoralis (Gould, 1843) - Eastern slope of mountains of central Veracruz, eastern Mexico.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet