Snow Mountain Quail
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| Snow Mountain Quail | ||||||||||||||
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| Anurophasis monorthonyx van Oort, 1910 |
The 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.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Anurophasis monorthonyx. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened
