Colinus

Bobwhite
Colinus virginianus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
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 cristatus Colinus leucopogon Colinus nigrogularis Colinus virginianus [1]

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. ^{[2] [3]} The genus name come from the Nahuatl language Zölin 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)		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)		Size: 22 cm Habitat: henequen and sisal landscape Diet:	LC
Northern bobwhite	Colinus virginianus (Linnaeus, 1758)		Size: 25 cm Habitat: prairies, farmland, woodlands Diet:	NT

Fossil species

• †Colinus eatoni
• †Colinus suiliumBrodkorb 1959
• †Colinus hibbardiWetmore 1944

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.