Overview
The bill is stout and dark-coloured and the legs and feet are bluish-grey. The iris of the eye is brown and there is orange or red bare skin around the eye. The sexes are similar in appearance; the front of the crown and cheeks are reddish-brown and the dark brown, vermiculated feathers on the crown are ruffled to form a short, loose crest. The mantle and neck are greyish-brown, the back and wings are brown with black vermiculations and the rump and upper-tail coverts are indistinctly spotted with paler colour. The underparts are drab brown with some indistinct barring in buff and darker brown. Juvenile birds are similar in appearance to the adults but have reddish-orange bills and non-vermiculated, reddish-brown crests.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Odontophoridae
- Genus
- Odontophorus
- Species
- gujanensis
Habitat
Subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Diet
Invertebrates and fallen fruits.
Behavior
The marbled wood quail is an elusive bird, moving about in the undergrowth and seldom seen, but its distinctive calls can often be heard, particularly at dawn and dusk. It sometimes emerges into the open but stays close to fallen trees or scrub to facilitate an easy retreat. On disturbance, it tends to move away quietly on foot, but will burst into flight if necessary. It usually occurs in small groups that move in single file, foraging through the leaf litter for food. Nests are sometimes found at the foot of a tree, with about four white eggs, sometimes spotted with brown, in a shallow scrape concealed under a roof of dead leaves; the breeding season varies with locality.
Hunting
More information is needed.
Conservation Status
Listed as Near Threatened Based on a model of future deforestation in the Amazon basin, it is suspected that the population of this species will decline by 25-30% over the next three generations, and it has therefore been uplisted to Near Threatened. (IUCN)by IUCN.