Snow Mountain Quail

Taxobox
name = Snow Mountain Quail
status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Galliformes
familia = Phasianidae
genus = "Anurophasis"
genus_authority = van Oort, 1910
species = "A. monorthonyx"
binomial = "Anurophasis monorthonyx"
binomial_authority = van Oort, 1910The Snow Mountain Quail, "Anurophasis monorthonyx" is a large, approximately 28cm (11in) 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.

An Indonesian endemic, the Snow Mountain Quail is confined to New Guineas 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 above 3,000 metres (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 vegetation matters.

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

References

* Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened

External links

* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=203&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
* [http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=1792 IUCN Red List]
* [http://www.rdb.or.id/detailbird.php?id=335 Red Data Book]