White-faced quail-dove

The white-faced quail-dove is monotypic.[2] It was originally described in genus Geotrygon, later placed in genus Oreopeleia, and still later in its present Zentrygon. Its relationships with the other members of its genus have not been fully resolved.[3]

The white-faced quail-dove is 28 to 31.5 cm (11.0 to 12.4 in) long. Eleven specimens had weights ranging from 158 to 339 g (5.6 to 12.0 oz). Adults' crowns are gray, from very light in front fairly deep at the back and into the nape. The hindneck and sides of the neck are cinnamon; on the latter loose feathers give the impression of dark furrows. The rest of the upperparts are chestnut and the back has a bluish violet gloss. The wings are dark dusky grayish brown. The face is pale grayish buff and the chin and throat pale buff. The breast is buffy gray that pales and adds a cinnamon tone at the belly. The eye is orange to red surrounded by bare blue-gray skin. The legs and feet are red. Juveniles' crowns are pale brown, their upperparts brown with dusky bars, and the breast and sides tawny brown with dusky bars.[3]

The white-faced quail-dove is found discontinuously in several southern states of Mexico, much of Guatemala and Honduras, and small areas of northern El Salvador and northwestern Nicaragua. It inhabits humid montane forest of several types including evergreen and pine-evergreen, and also shade coffee plantations. In elevation it ranges between 1,000 and 2,700 m (3,300 and 8,900 ft).[3]

The IUCN has assessed the white-faced quail-dove as being of Least Concern.[1] However, though it has a large range, its population is believed to be declining, and it is considered by Mexican authorities to be threatened there.[3]