Crested Bobwhite

How to find it

Go early. It is easiest to see along roads early in the morning, when groups come out to feed and pick up small stones. Dusk is the other time birds step into open spots. Between those hours expect dense cover. Listen for the husky bob-white call, which helps to locate birds that stay hidden. Farmland and side roads near Ciudad Neily are the ground to search, and quiet patience at the cover's edge is the best approach.

How to recognise it

This is a small quail, about 20 cm long and about 125 g in weight.

On the adult male:

- the brow and throat are rufous

- the face and eyeline are pale gray

- the neck is black with white spots

- the breast is spotted white

- the belly is blotched and barred black and cinnamon

The female is plainer on the head, with more buff than rufous, and her throat is streaked with black. Both sexes show the long crest that gives the bird its name, mixed with dull buff.

What it sounds like

Recording: Juan Camilo Ovalle Castañeda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

Groups are small in Costa Rica. The birds stay in dense cover but step into open spots early in the morning and at dusk. Along roads at that hour, groups come out to feed and pick up small stones.

When startled, they bunch together and run fast, or fly off in a short, noisy burst. Across its range, flushed birds fly off each in a different direction, then drop to the ground and hide, and outside the breeding season groups can reach up to 20 birds.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is a resident of the Golfo Dulce lowlands in the southwest. It lives locally in sugarcane and rice fields, second growth and weedy pastures, open or regrowing ground rather than mature forest. That fits its arrival after forests were cleared.

It is reported as locally common from Ciudad Neilly south and west to the Panama border. Some reports may place it as far north as Piedras Blancas National Park.

Similar birds

Spot-bellied Bobwhite was once treated as the same species. Compared with it, the Crested has a darker back and a longer crest mixed with dull buff. It also lacks a brown eyeline and shows more rufous. Within its range it is the only quail in open habitats, and the long crest and the male's bob-white call separate it easily.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The official Costa Rican Spanish name is Codorniz Crestada, with Codorniz de Monte as the alternate name. Spot-bellied Bobwhite carries the same alternate name, so the two share a local label.

Status and conservation

Listed as a resident (R) on the AOCR list, described as uncommon in southwestern Costa Rica, and rated Least Concern by the IUCN, with a very large range.

Photography tips

Roadsides at first light give the best chance, when groups step out to feed. Stay in or beside a vehicle and scan the edges of cover, as the birds slip back into the vegetation quickly.