Spot-bellied bobwhite

The spot-bellied bobwhite (Colinus leucopogon) is a ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the crested bobwhite, Colinus cristatus. As the latter species expands north into Costa Rica, it is likely that the two species will overlap in range in the future, but the Costa Rican subspecies of the spot-bellied is the least similar to the crested.

The spot-bellied bobwhite is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in open savanna with bushes and trees and other open woodland.

This species is 22–24 cm long and shows geographically variable male plumage amongst its six subspecies. All forms have a brown back with black spotting on the nape. The head has a white supercilium, a dark line through the eye, a white or brown throat and a short crest. The lower belly is spotted but the rest of the underparts are pale, entirely spotted, or spotted with a rufous chest depending on the subspecies. The male weighs 140 g on average. The female is duller than the male with a buff supercilium and mottled throat; her average weight is 115 g.

The song, most often given by males in spring and summer, is a rising, scratchy, bob-Wight! or bob-bob-White!.