Montezuma Quail
Montezumawachtel ( Cyrtonyx montezumae )
The Montezumawachtel ( Cyrtonyx montezumae ) is a species of quail. It occurs exclusively in the New World.
Description
Montezumawachteln reach a body length of 21-23 inches. The females are slightly smaller in general. They weigh an average of 193 grams while the males weigh on average 209 grams.
The plain -colored females in the light brown plumage looks ordinary quail similar, but the male is splendidly drawn. The head is white with black markings, has a short beak and golden yellow, rearwardly facing splendor crested feathers. The abdomen is reddish brown, and on the edge he is gray-black with white dots. The wing is light brown, the feathers adorn black dots. The legs are gray.
Your reputation sounds like trilling, sloping neighing.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution of Montezumawachtel extends from southern Arizona over New Mexico and Texas to northern Mexico. There she lives in mountainous, open woodland with juniper, pine and oak trees. In the United States the Montezumawachtel is a rare and only locally breeding bird. In Mexico, the species is more common and more widespread, but also go here the collection returned by habitat loss.
Nutrition
With her strong legs she can scrape bulbs or tubers out of the ground, but otherwise she eats various seeds and insects, which it pecks with its short beak.
Reproduction
The Montezumawachtel is a monogamous bird species living. The nest is a shallow groove, which is lined with grasses and is usually hidden under a tuft of grass or dense herbaceous vegetation. Based on the current state of knowledge, the male is involved in the construction of the Nistmulde. On the territory of the USA breed Montezumawachteln usually in the period from June to September. In Mexico, the breeding season begins, however, towards the end of March and the birds migrate here often two broods large. The nest consists of six to 28 eggs in an extreme case. The average clutch size, however, are eleven eggs. The incubation period is 25 to 26 days. At the leadership of the young birds both parents birds are involved.