Bird Guide

Crested Bobwhite vs Spot-bellied Bobwhite

Crested Bobwhite (Colinus cristatus)

Crested Bobwhite

Colinus cristatus

Medium134 gForest

Adult crested bobwhite are about 178 to 216 millimetres (7.0 to 8.5 in) long. The sexes are very similar in appearance. The long feathers on the fore-head and crown are pale buff or white, and the crest feathers may be dark. The back and sides of the neck are marbled in black and white and the throat is white or buff, sometimes spotted with black. The upper parts are mottled black, brown and grey. The underparts are pale, with buff, cinnamon and black markings. The eye is brown, the beak black and the legs bluish-grey. The female is slightly browner than the male.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Daisyree Bakker · CC BY 2.0
Spot-bellied Bobwhite (Colinus leucopogon)

Spot-bellied Bobwhite

Colinus leucopogon

Medium129 gForest

This species is 22–24 cm long and shows geographically variable male plumage amongst its six subspecies. All forms have a brown back with black spotting on the nape. The head has a white supercilium, a dark line through the eye, a white or brown throat and a short crest. The lower belly is spotted but the rest of the underparts are pale, entirely spotted, or spotted with a rufous chest depending on the subspecies. The male weighs 140 g on average. The female is duller than the male with a buff supercilium and mottled throat; her average weight is 115 g.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Spot-bellied Bobwhite
Recorded by Oliver Komar · Song · El Zamorano, San Antonio de Oriente, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Anthony Mora Aguilar · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Crested Bobwhite and Spot-bellied Bobwhite.