Northern Bobwhite

Colinus virginianus

Its two-note whistle is one of North America's most recognized bird calls. Population has crashed 80% since 1966.

Population: ~5.8 million mature individuals (2016 estimate), declining (~3.1-3.6%/yr long-term average depending on source/period)
Habitat: Agricultural fields, grasslands, open pine/pine-hardwood woodlands, brushy edges/roadsides, and early-successional regrowth following fire or disturbance; avoids mature closed-canopy woodland
Fun fact: At night a northern bobwhite covey roosts in a tight, outward-facing circle with tails pointed toward the center — a formation that lets the group watch every direction for predators and burst outward in unison if flushed.
Range: Resident from the southern Great Lakes/Nebraska/Kansas/Colorado east to New England and south through the eastern and southeastern USA to the Gulf states; also central/eastern Mexico south to Guatemala, Cuba, and Isla de la Juventud; introduced populations established in parts of the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia
Diet: Omnivorous — mainly seeds, grains, and wild fruit/leaves, supplemented seasonally by insects and other invertebrates (grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, spiders, snails, ticks, leafhoppers); chicks eat mostly insects/arthropods for their first ~8 weeks, and breeding females increase arthropod intake seasonally
Size: 0.26 m
Wingspan: 0.36 m
Lifespan: 6 years

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