Appearance
The white-throated quail-dove is 30 to 34 cm long and weighs about 311 g, making it among the largest quail-doves. The adult nominate male's forehead and the lower part of the face are buff and the crown blue-gray. The mantle is deep purple and the rest of the upperparts reddish brown. The throat is white, the breast gray, and the belly and flanks dark buff. Females are browner rather than gray; juveniles are similar to the female with the addition of dark barring on both the upper and underparts. The other subspecies differ somewhat in the colors of their heads.
Distribution
The subspecies of white-throated quail-dove are found from north to south thus:⤷ ''Z. f. bourcieri'' - western Colombia and western and eastern Ecuador
⤷ ''Z. f. subgrisea'' - southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru
⤷ ''Z. f. frenata'' - northern Peru to central Bolivia
⤷ ''Z. f. margaritae'' - southern Bolivia and far northwestern Argentina
They inhabit humid evergreen montane forest in the Andes, usually between 900 and 3,000 m but sometimes as low as 700 m.
Status
The IUCN has assessed the white-throated quail-dove as being of Least Concern. Its population is suspected to be stable but has not been quantified. Little is known about its biology and ecology and it appears to be patchily distributed.
Habitat
They inhabit humid evergreen montane forest in the Andes, usually between 900 and 3,000 m but sometimes as low as 700 m.
Reproduction
The white-throated quail-dove's breeding season appears to vary across its range. One documented nest was a flat platform placed 2 m above ground in a tangle of vegetation; it contained one egg. Essentially nothing else is known about its breeding phenology.Food
The white-throated quail-dove forages on the ground, usually alone but sometimes with one or two other birds. Its diet has not been documented.References:
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