Tawny-faced Quail

How to find it

Look in humid forest in the lowlands and foothills, and expect a hard search. Birders meet it rarely, because the ventriloquial call and the habit of freezing both work against you. Dusk is the time to listen. At Laguna del Lagarto a guide heard it call near the lodge, and a visiting birder heard it at about 6 p.m. The call lasted only around 15 seconds, and it may call again several minutes later, so patience pays. A known roost site matters more than wandering the forest.

How to recognise it

This is a very small, short-tailed quail, roughly 17 to 20 cm long. The sexes differ, so it helps to know both.

The male has a rufous face with a dark streak through the eye, a gray breast and a buff belly.

The female has a white streak behind the eye, a brown head and breast, and dark scaling on the flanks and belly.

Its plumage blends in with the dark forest interior. A birder can walk right past a still quail a few meters away without noticing it.

What it sounds like

Recording: Roger A. Morales-Flores, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It lives in pairs or small groups of up to eight birds. Small groups move carefully over the forest floor, and this quail does not walk into the open. If surprised, it tends to freeze instead of fleeing, and it rarely flies. It is mostly a ground bird, but it roosts in trees and bushes close to the ground. It eats seeds, worms and insects. In Costa Rica it rarely sings, calling only a few times at dusk, sometimes for under a minute and then again several minutes later.

Where it lives

The species lives in lowland tropical forest up to about 1,450 m elevation, and it favors dense humid forest in the foothills and nearby lowlands. The wider range runs from the northeastern Honduran lowlands to northern Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica it is a Caribbean-side bird centered on the north, in mature rainforest from the Nicaraguan border to the slopes of the northern mountain ranges. One account says it seems absent from the Sarapiqui area and south of there.

When to see it

A Costa Rica bird photography blogger says the quail seems to call most in May and June, and those are the most reliable months at Laguna del Lagarto. It can be found at other times of year too.

Similar birds

Its song is often mistaken for a tinamou, and has also been compared to dove calls. That confusion is one reason the bird is so rarely recorded, so a steady whistle at dusk from the forest floor deserves a second listen for the lower or higher notes that follow.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The official Spanish name in Costa Rica is Codorniz Carirrufa. Elsewhere in the region other Spanish names include Codorniz caripálido in Honduras, Perdiz Selvática in Colombia and Corcovado carihabano in Ecuador.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list (2025-2026 update) classes it as a resident species, and Avibase's Costa Rica checklist marks it as Near Threatened.

Photography tips

Its plumage blends in with the dark forest interior, so a still quail a few meters away can be passed unseen. A known roost site gives the best photo chances. Because the song's timing and manner make it easy to overlook, a local guide who has located roost sites improves a visitor's odds.