Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 31, 2026

Colinus

Colinus is a genus of birds in the New World quail family, Odontophoridae. Members of the genus are commonly known as bobwhites.

Last revised
May 31, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
296 w
Citations
6
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Bobwhite
Colinus virginianus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Odontophoridae
Genus: Colinus
Goldfuss, 1820
Type species
Perdrix mexicanus=Tetrao virginianus Linnaeus, 1758
northern bobwhite
Species

Colinus is a genus of birds in the New World quail family, Odontophoridae. Members of the genus are commonly known as bobwhites.1

Taxonomy

The genus Colinus was introduced in 1820 by the German naturalist Georg August Goldfuss to accommodate a single species, Perdrix mexicanus, a junior synonym of Tetrao virginiatus Linnaeus, 1758, the northern bobwhite, which is the type species by monotypy.23 The genus name come from the Nahuatl language Zōlin meaning "quail".4

Species

The genus contains four species.5

Genus Colinus – Goldfuss, 1820 – four species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Crested bobwhite

 Colinus cristatus
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Map of range 		Size: 22 cm

Habitat: open scrubland

Diet: 		 LC 


Spot-bellied bobwhite

 Colinus leucopogon
(Lesson, 1842) 		El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica Size: 23 cm

Habitat: open scrubland

Diet: 		 LC 


Yucatan bobwhite, black-throated bobwhite

 Colinus nigrogularis
(Gould, 1843)
Map of range 		Size: 22 cm

Habitat: henequen and sisal landscape

Diet: 		 LC 


Northern bobwhite

 Colinus virginianus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Map of range 		Size: 25 cm

Habitat: prairies, farmland, woodlands

Diet: 		 NT 



Fossil species

  • †Colinus eatoni
  • †Colinus suilium Brodkorb 1959
  • †Colinus hibbardi Wetmore 1944
References

References

  1. "Colinus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  2. Goldfuss, Georg August (1820). Handbuch der Zoologie (in German). Vol. 2. Nürnberg: J.L. Schrag. p. 220.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 46.
  4. Jobling, James A. "Colinus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Pheasants, partridges, francolins". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 February 2025.