Harlequin quail

The Montezuma quail of Central America and the southwestern U.S. is sometimes called the harlequin quail.

The harlequin quail (Coturnix delegorguei) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It occurs in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Arabian Peninsula.^[4] The species is named after the collector, Adulphe Delegorgue.

Harlequin quail
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Coturnix
Species:	C. delegorguei
Binomial name
Coturnix delegorguei Delegorgue, 1847
Synonyms
Coturnix fornasini Bianconi 1865 [2][3]

Taxonomy

Drawing of the head

There are three subspecies:^[5][4]

• C. d. arabica Bannerman, 1929 – Southwest Arabian Peninsula
• C. d. delegorguei Delegorgue, 1847 – Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar
• C. d. histrionica Hartlaub, 1849 – São Tomé Island, Gulf of Guinea

Introductions

The uncontrolled introduction of domestic Japanese quail breeds into Kenya, as well as a noticeable population size reduction of wild African harlequin quail numbers in parts of Western Kenya has been reported.^[6]