Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa Scientific name definitions

c. 25 cm. Unmistakable, especially male. Long tail and stiff, bristle-like feathers on forehead; small white patches in front of and behind eye; long, lanceolate body feathers have unusual shape and texture. Female slightly smaller and shows distinctive combination of red bill and mostly tawny to cinnamon-brown plumage heavily patterned with blackish spots and streaks; separated from other quails by combination of size, red bill and legs and heavy markings. Juvenile male differs from adult of same sex in having buff streaks and bars on tertials, and large black spots on back (like adult female) (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

N India: known only from areas around Mussoorie, Dehra Dun and Naini Tal, in Uttar Pradesh. Possibly extinct; several unconfirmed recent sightings in Suwakholi and around Naini Tal (2 BirdLife International (2013). IUCN Red List for birds. URL: http://www.birdlife.org (download Aug 2013). Close ).

Occurs, or occurred, on steep hillsides, especially S-facing slopes, in patches of long grass and brushwood; recorded from c. 1650 m up to c. 2400 m, although there is speculation that it sometimes occurred at lower elevations (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close , 1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

No reliable information available. Most recent, detailed review of our knowledge, suggested the species was unlikely to be more than a short-distance migrant, perhaps moving donwslope, by walking or flying, in response to extreme weather (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ). Consistently stated by contemporary commentators to be a poor flier, covering only short distances even when almost stepped upon; contrary to this, however, it was sometimes suggested that the species wintered in N India, moving downslope from breeding grounds further N (even as far afield as Tibet), although sight records from Uttar Pradesh were from spring and summer too, and the species’ morphology are not indicative of a bird capable of long-distance dispersal (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Occurred in coveys of 5–12 birds, occasionally in pairs (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close , 1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Grass seeds recorded; probably also berries (speculated to include Principea utilis, Lonicera angustifolia, Berberis asiatica and Gerardiana heterophylla) and insects (especially by young birds) (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ).

Only information is more or less anecdotal: was reputed to give shrill whistle in alarm, and low, short, quail-like calls when feeding (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Nothing known beyond fact that two specimens collected in Nov were juveniles (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ).

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. Restricted-range species certainly found only within Western Himalaya Endemic Bird Area, although suitable habitat in the 19th century was probably much more widespread and the fact that records were clumped around two well-visited hill stations presumably is reflective solely of observer coverage, rather than any real range restriction (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ). Any remaining population presumed to consist of fewer than 50 mature individuals BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Ophrysia superciliosa. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/11/2015. . Only known from c. 12 specimens (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ), all collected between 1836 and Dec 1876 and mainly in winter (Nov–Jan), in two areas of Uttarakhand separated by c. 180 km (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close , 1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Range has been subject to considerable human colonization and consequent overgrazing, mining, poaching and other degradation (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); many of the hill slopes in the region of the type locality are now completely denuded (4 Singh, A. P. (2000). Birds of lower Garhwal Himalayas: Dehra Dun valley and neighbouring hills. Forktail 16:101–123. Close ). Causes of presumed decline and possible extirpation are unknown; even though very few specimens were taken, hunting during colonial times has been cited as a factor BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Ophrysia superciliosa. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/11/2015. . Species possibly very difficult to locate; over last 40 years, there have been few well-organized searches, but there were two possible sightings near Suwakholi (Mussoorie hills) in 1984, five observations around Naini Tal in 2003, and a female was reported in extreme W Nepal by a hunter in 2010 (5 Baral, H.S., Basnet, S., Chaudhary, H., Chaudhary, B., Timsina, A. and Bidari, K. (2013). Search for the Critically Endangered Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa in far west Nepal. BirdingASIA. 20: 70–75. Close ), in which country there were apparently reliable (but equally undocumented) reports in Dailekh District, as well as from Lohagat (E Kumoan, India), between 1945 and 1950 (3 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ). The main priority is now to establish whether or not the species is still extant. A recent estimate of extinction date for Himalayan Quail based on sight records concludes that it became extinct in the late 1890s (6 Collen, B., Purvis, A. and Mace, G.M. (2010). When is a species really extinct? Testing extinction inference from a sighting record to inform conservation assessment. Diversity and Distributions. 16(5):755-764. Close ), a mere two decades after the last specimens were taken. Nevertheless, distribution modelling suggests that it may persist in the region of Mussoorie, where 923 km² of suitable habitat exists (7 Dunn, J.C., Buchanan, G.M., Cuthbert, R.J., Whittingham, M.J. and McGowan, P.J.K. (2015). Mapping the potential distribution of the Critically Endangered Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa using proxy species and species distribution modelling. Bird Conservation International. 25(4): 466–478. Close ). Further surveys should be carried out at five priority sites identified in Uttarakhand (7 Dunn, J.C., Buchanan, G.M., Cuthbert, R.J., Whittingham, M.J. and McGowan, P.J.K. (2015). Mapping the potential distribution of the Critically Endangered Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa using proxy species and species distribution modelling. Bird Conservation International. 25(4): 466–478. Close ); surveys of (former) localities and in areas supporting Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichiare are also required. Fieldwork should include detailed interviews with local human population BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Ophrysia superciliosa. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/11/2015. .