Colinus leucopogon
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The spot-bellied bobwhite (Colinus leucopogon) is a ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the crested bobwhite, Colinus cristatus. As the latter species expands north into Costa Rica, it is likely that the two species will overlap in range in the future, but the Costa Rican subspecies of the spot-bellied is the least similar to the crested.
The spot-bellied bobwhite is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in open savanna with bushes and trees and other open woodland. This species is 22–24 cm long and shows geographically variable male plumage amongst its six subspecies. All forms have a brown back with black spotting on the nape. The head has a white supercilium, a dark line through the eye, a white or brown throat and a short crest. The lower belly is spotted but the rest of the underparts are pale, entirely spotted, or spotted with a rufous chest depending on the subspecies. The male weighs 140 g on average. The female is duller than the male with a buff supercilium and mottled throat; her average weight is 115 g.
The song, most often given by males in spring and summer... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celaque National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | La Tigra National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Masaya Volcano National Park | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 8 | Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 9 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 3 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Spot-bellied Bobwhite sighting in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 190th most-seen of the 241 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spot-bellied Bobwhite in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February to December, the lowest months. That is one of Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 560 mm in October.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spot-bellied Bobwhite sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Spot-bellied Bobwhite sightings, Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Celaque National Park (Honduras, about 10%), Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%) and La Tigra National Park (Honduras, under 5%).
Same order: Galliformes
The closest relatives of the Spot-bellied Bobwhite that you can see in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve (order Galliformes, Landfowl) are Plain Chachalaca (about 20%) and Great Curassow (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spot-bellied Bobwhite is recorded against all the birds logged in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
