---
title: "Northern Bobwhite"
description: "Colinus virginianus — Uccelli. 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."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/northern-bobwhite
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Northern Bobwhite

> Colinus virginianus — Uccelli. 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.

- Scientific name: *Colinus virginianus*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi)
- iNaturalist observations: 11374
- Wikidata: [Q142651](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q142651)
- iNaturalist taxon: [1280](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1280)

## Names

- en: Northern Bobwhite
- de: Virginiawachtel
- es: Codorniz cotuí
- fr: Colin de Virginie
- nl: Bobwhite
- pt: Perdiz-da-virgínia
- pl: Przepiór wirginijski

## Countries with the most observations

US (9123), MX (920), CA (89), IT (41), HR (7), SI (5), DO (4)

## Summary

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…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_bobwhite

## Photo

![Northern Bobwhite](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/northern-bobwhite/medium.jpg)

Photo: Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165794755

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/northern-bobwhite?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).