Buff-fronted Quail-Dove

How to find it

Quail-doves hide in shade and slip off trails, so sightings are likelier on rainy or very cloudy days and where birds are used to people. Monteverde's trails give a fair chance of a glimpse. One bird has turned up at the edge of the Monteverde parking lot, so keep checking the lot edges, especially when few people are around. At hummingbird feeders, watch the ground below, where fallen food draws it. On a guided walk at Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, the guide scans the moss-laden trees for other birds while also watching the trail ahead for secretive ground birds such as this one and Black-breasted Wood-Quail. Birds are often heard before they are seen, so listen as you step off the bus.

How to recognise it

Look first at the head. The forehead is buff, and the light gray cheeks are edged above and below by thin black stripes that run just past the eye.

The head, neck and breast are medium gray. The back, wings and tail are maroon. The eye has a thin red ring and the legs are bright coral red.

This is a stocky, ground-dwelling dove about 24 to 28 cm long.

Young birds look different. Juveniles are duller, with a whitish forehead and dull chestnut plumage barred dusky above and grayish below, and an immature shows fine buffy scaling. A very dark quail-dove below the restaurant at Savegre puzzled one tour group until they worked out it was an immature Buff-fronted.

Behaviour and diet

This dove forages on the forest floor in leaf litter, alone or in pairs. Its diet is poorly known, but it probably eats fruits, seeds and insects.

It can be wary. One bird near the Savegre Valley lodge was sneaky and retiring, speed-walking away from the group. On a Monteverde trail another scuttled through the undergrowth, moving in and out of view as the group crept after it, then ambled across the trail between people.

It moves from dense understory into clearings, mostly early in the morning.

Where it lives

It lives in very wet montane forest, from 1000 to 3000 m. On the Caribbean slope it is most abundant between 1500 and 2000 m, while on the Pacific slope it is found highest, at 2000 to 2500 m.

It is a resident from the Cordillera de Guanacaste south along the main mountain ranges to Panama. BirdLife lists these Costa Rican Important Bird Areas for it: Arenal-Monteverde, Tilarán Highlands, Central Volcanic Cordillera, Talamanca Highlands, La Amistad Caribe, Los Santos/La Amistad Pacífico, and El Rodeo/Escazú/La Carpintera.

Similar birds

Chiriqui Quail-Dove lives mostly at lower elevations than this species, though on the Caribbean side it lives above it. Both occur in Costa Rica's mountains: Chiriqui is likely at Finca Ecologica or Bajo del Tigre in Monteverde, and Buff-fronted in the Monteverde cloud forests. If a quail-dove looks unlike the adult, think of an immature Buff-fronted.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Spanish name on the official Costa Rican list is Paloma-Perdiz Costarricense. The name Paloma-Perdiz Costarriqueña is also in use. Another English name is Costa Rican Quail-Dove, which older field guides also used.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list classes it as a resident regional endemic (R-END), and IUCN rates it Least Concern, described as fairly common.

Photography tips

The Cinchona feeders gave close views and photo chances, and one bird walked below the viewers' feet and ignored the people above. Because it moves from dense understory into clearings mostly early in the morning, forest openings are a good place to wait then. Expect brief views if you meet a shy bird on a trail.