Colinus


Colinus is a genus of birds in the New [World quail] family, Odontophoridae. Members of the genus are commonly known as bobwhites.

Taxonomy

The genus Colinus was introduced in 1820 by the German naturalist Georg August Goldfuss to accommodate a single species, Perdrix mexicanus, a junior synonym of Tetrao virginiatus Linnaeus, 1758, the northern bobwhite, which is the type species by monotypy. The genus name come from the Nahuatl language Zōlin meaning "quail".

Species

The genus contains four species.

Fossil species

  • †Colinus eatoni
  • †Colinus suilium Brodkorb 1959
  • †Colinus hibbardi Wetmore 1944