CreatureData

Northern bobwhite

Colinus virginianus (Linnaeus, 1758)

NTNear Threatenedbirds

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is a species in the family Odontophoridae, order Galliformes. Recorded adults weigh 117 g to 173.3 g and live up to 6.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)
Photo: Matt Tillett from Cumberland, MD, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the northern bobwhite

Weight
117 g – 173.3 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
32.3 cm – 36.7 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
6.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
6.42 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
22.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
8 – 13src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the northern bobwhite?

NORTHERN BOBWHITE · WINGSPAN 36.7 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 36.7 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the northern bobwhite is about 22% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the northern bobwhite

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)
ALAN SCHMIERER · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the northern bobwhite live?

Not recorded

What is the northern bobwhite?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Northern bobwhite” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_bobwhite&oldid=1375249002), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the northern bobwhite sound like?

G. McGrane · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Is the northern bobwhite endangered?

The northern bobwhite is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.

How is the northern bobwhite classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGalliformes
  5. familyOdontophoridae
  6. genusColinus
  7. SpeciesColinus virginianus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Ortyx virginiana, Perdix borealis

Other names and names in other languages (65)
  • BobwhiteEnglish
  • Bobwhite quailEnglish
  • Bobwhite quailEnglish
  • Virginia quailEnglish
  • Virginian partridgeEnglish
  • Virginian quailEnglish
  • بوب وايت شماليArabic
  • Kolin VirjiniaBreton
  • colí de VirgíniaCatalan
  • ᎤᎫᏇᎯCherokee
  • křepel virginskýCzech
  • sofliar VirginiaWelsh
  • BobwhiteDanish
  • Virginsk vagtelDanish
  • VirginiawachtelGerman
  • Virginia-WaldwachtelGerman
  • Virginia koturnoEsperanto
  • virginia arbokoturnoEsperanto
  • Codorniz cotuíSpanish
  • CodornizSpanish
  • Codorniz cotuí norteñaSpanish
  • Codorniz de VirginiaSpanish
  • Colín de VirginiaSpanish
  • nurmvuttEstonian
  • KolinBasque
  • peltoviiriäinenFinnish
  • colin de VirginieFrench
  • Gearg bhabaightIrish
  • KayHaitian Creole
  • שלו אמריקאיHebrew
  • שליו אמריקניHebrew
  • KolinkaCroatian
  • bozótfürjHungarian
  • Virginiai fogasfürjHungarian
  • TannhænaIcelandic
  • Colino della VirginiaItalian
  • コリンウズラJapanese
  • korinuzuraJapanese
  • VirginvištėLithuanian
  • virgininė putpelėLithuanian
  • Virdžīnijas paipalaLatvian
  • Virginische boomkwartelDutch
  • BoomkwartelDutch
  • nordkrattvaktelNorwegian
  • BadriesliPennsylvania German
  • przepiór wirginijskiPolish
  • Perdiz-da-virgíniaPortuguese
  • Codorniz da VirgíniaPortuguese
  • codorniz-da-virgíniaPortuguese
  • codorniz-virginianaPortuguese
  • Виргинский перепелRussian
  • Виргинская американская куропаткаRussian
  • BealdogoaktilNorthern Sami
  • prepelka hnedáSlovak
  • virginijski kolinSlovenian
  • Virdžinijska prepelicaSerbian
  • virginiavaktelSwedish
  • Vitstrupig vaktelSwedish
  • Virjinya KoliniTurkish
  • Virginia bıldırcınıTurkish
  • Віргінська перепілкаUkrainian
  • перепелиця віргинськаUkrainian
  • перепелиця віргінськаUkrainian
  • 山齒鶉Chinese
  • 山齿鹑Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the northern bobwhite

Other species in the same genus Colinus.

CompareNorthern bobwhite vs Crested bobwhiteNorthern bobwhite vs Yucatan bobwhiteNorthern bobwhite vs Spot-bellied bobwhiteNorthern bobwhite vs Colinus suilium

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the northern bobwhite?

An adult northern bobwhite weighs 117 g – 173.3 g and has a wingspan of 32.3 cm – 36.7 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the northern bobwhite endangered?

The northern bobwhite is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

How long does the northern bobwhite live?

The northern bobwhite has a recorded lifespan of 6.4 years.

What kind of animal is the northern bobwhite?

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) belongs to the family Odontophoridae in the order Galliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-bobwhite

MLA

“Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-bobwhite.

BibTeX
@misc{northern_bobwhite_2026,
  title = {Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-bobwhite},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}