Mountain Quail
The Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. This species is the only one in the genus Oreortyx, which is sometimes included in Callipepla. This is not appropriate, however, as the Mountain Quail's ancestors have diverged from other New World quails earlier than the bobwhites, no later than 6 mya.
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| Mountain Quail |
image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/
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| Mountain Quail |
image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Quartl
Description
The bird's average length is 26–28 cm, with a wingspan of 35–40 cm. They have relatively short, rounded wings and long, featherless legs. These birds are easily recognized by their top knots, which are shorter in the female. They have a brown face, gray breast, brown back and primaries, and heavily white barred underside.
