Black-eared Wood Quail
Photo: Mikael Bauer · CC BY 4.0

New World Quail

Black-eared Wood Quail

Odontophorus melanotis

NTNear Threatened
Family
New World Quail (Odontophoridae)
Order
Galliformes

Overview

The black-eared wood quail (Odontophorus melanotis) is a bird species in the order Galliformes. Until recently, the species was thought to be part of the family Phasianidae (Old World quail) however DNA-DNA hybridization results determined that black-eared wood quail are only distantly related to Old World quail. As a result, black-eared wood quail have been placed in the family Odontophoridae (New World quail) and more specifically, in the category of wood quail (genus Odontophorus).
There is limited information available on this species, but black-eared wood quail are considered to be forest-adapted, monogamous, relatively large pheasant-like birds that can be found in tropical and subtropical forests of Central America.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.