ND Northern Bobwhite Hunting Guide

Also known as: Bobwhite quail, Virginia quail

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), also known as the Virginia quail or (in its home range) bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. It is a member of the group of species known as New World quail (Odontophoridae). They were initially placed with the Old World quail in the pheasant family (Phasianidae), but are not particularly closely related. The name "bobwhite" is an onomatopoeic derivation from its characteristic whistling call. Despite its secretive nature, the northern bobwhite is one of the most familiar quails in eastern North America, because it is frequently the only quail in its range. Habitat degradation has contributed to the northern bobwhite population in eastern North America declining by roughly 85% from 1966 to 2014. This population decline is apparently range-wide and continuing.
There are 20 subspecies of northern bobwhite, many of which are hunted extensively as game birds. One subspecies, the masked bobwhite (Colinus virginianus ridgwayi), is listed as critically endangered with wild populations located in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and a reintroduced population in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona.

Taxonomy
The northern bobwhite was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tetrao virginianus. Linnaeus specified the type location as "America" but this has been restricted to the state of Virginia. Linnaeus based his account on the "American partridge" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The northern bobwhite is now one of four species placed in the genus Colinus that was introduced in 1820 by the German naturalist Georg August Goldfuss.

Subspecies

There are 20 recognized subspecies in four groups. One subspecies, the Key West bobwhite (C. v. insulanus), is extinct. The subspecies are listed in taxonomic order:

Eastern group
C. v. virginianus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Virginia bobwhite - eastern North America from Ontario south to northern Florida (includes former subspecies marilandicus and mexicanus)
C. v. floridanus (Coues, 1872) – Florida bobwhite – peninsular Florida
†C. v. insulanus (Howe, 1904) – Key West bobwhite – the Florida Keys (extinct)
C. v. cubanensis (GR Gray, 1846) – Cuban bobwhite – Cuba and Isla de la Juventud; introduced to Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos islands
C. v. taylori (Lincoln, 1915) – plains bobwhite – South Dakota to northern Texas, western Missouri and northwestern Arkansas
C. v. texanus (Lawrence, 1853) – Texas bobwhite – southwestern Texas to northern Mexico
C. v. aridus (Lawrence, 1853) – Jaumave bobwhite – west-central Tamaulipas to southeastern San Luis Potosí
C. v. maculatus (Nelson, 1899) – spot-bellied bobwhite – central Tamaulipas to northern Veracruz and southeastern San Luis Potosí
Grayson's group
C. v. graysoni (Lawrence, 1867) – Grayson's bobwhite – west-central Mexico
C. v. nigripectus (Nelson, 1897) – Puebla bobwhite – eastern Mexico
Black-breasted group
C. v. pectoralis (Gould, 1843) – black-breasted bobwhite – eastern slopes and mountains of central Veracruz
C. v. godmani (Nelson, 1897) – Godman's bobwhite – eastern slopes and mountains of central Veracruz
C. v. minor (Nelson, 1901) – least bobwhite – northeastern Chiapas and Tabasco
C. v. thayeri (Bangs and Peters, 1928) – Thayer's bobwhite – northeastern Oaxaca
Masked group
C. v. ridgwayi (Brewster, 1885) – masked bobwhite – north-central Sonora; reintroduced to Arizona
C. v. atriceps (Ogilvie-Grant, 1893) – black-headed bobwhite – interior of western Oaxaca
C. v. harrisoni (Orr and Webster, 1968) – Harrison's bobwhite – southwestern Oaxaca
C. v. coyoleos (Müller, PLS, 1776) – Coyoleos bobwhite – P

Hunting Season

Check current NDGF regulations. Limited opportunities in North Dakota.

References

• North Dakota — Northern Bobwhite