Snow Mountain quail

Snow Mountain quail
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Galliformes
Family:Phasianidae
Genus:Anurophasis
van Oort, 1910
Species: A. monorthonyx
Binomial name
Anurophasis monorthonyx
van Oort, 1910

The Snow Mountain quail (Anurophasis monorthonyx), is a large, approximately 28 cm (11 in) long, dark brown quail of Alpine grasslands. It is the only member of the genus Anurophasis. It has a brown plumage, a horn-coloured bill, yellow legs and a brown iris. The underparts of the female are whitish and more heavily black barred than in the male.

Snow mountain quail chick

An Indonesian endemic, the Snow Mountain quail is confined to New Guinea's highest elevations, the Snow Mountains of Irian Jaya. This little known bird is protected only by the remoteness of its habitat, an inaccessible area at an altitude over 3,000 m (9,850 feet).

The female usually lays up to three pale brown, dark-spotted eggs in a hollow nest under the edge of a grass tussock. The diet consists mainly of seeds, flowers, leaves, and other vegetable matter.

Due to its limited range, and being unprotected by Indonesian government, the Snow Mountain quail is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Anurophasis monorthonyx". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
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