Montezuma Quail
Common
Name: Montezuma Quail (MONQ);
also known as Harlequin or Mearns’s Quail
Scientific
Name:
Cyrtonyx
montezumae
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: Not
on IUCN 2004 Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
NOT covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (game bird)
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 524 (Stromberg 2000)
Distribution:
Resident [montezumae
group] from c Arizona (north to White Mountains), s New Mexico, w
(formerly c) Texas, n Coahuila, c Nuevo León, and c Tamaulipas south in
the mountains of Mexico to n Michoacán, Distrito Federal, Puebla, and w-c
Veracruz; and [sallaei group] on
the Pacific slope of Mexico from c Michoacán south to c Oaxaca (La
Cieneguilla) (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Pine-oak forest, arid montane scrub, northern temperate grassland
(1100-3100 m); subtropical, and lower Temperate zones (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs: New Mexico Bird
Conservation Plan; Arizona Bird Conservation Plan; Texas Avian Research
Projects- TARP (Texas Partners in Flight 2001); BNA No. 524 (Stromberg
2000); PIF Monitoring Needs document (Partners in Flight Science Committee
2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: Mo1 (Essentially no data on
population trend); Mo4 (2/3 or more of Western Hemisphere breeding range
is south of
U.S.
(PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – Conduct Mexican species-specific surveys (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc); (similar) Conduct intensive field monitoring -
priority (BNA)
- Second
priority monitoring action – Maintain the species-specific surveys
in the
U.S.
(PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
- High
priority candidate for rapid status assessment (PIF Monitoring Needs
doc)
- Develop
best survey methods for MONQ (many of these are similar to the priorities listed immediately
above) - Develop a (non-lethal) census method for MONQ (
Arizona
); Determine best survey techniques for presence of MONQ (TARP -
Chihuahuan Desert & Mexican Mts); Need a reliable index of
abundance for MONQ game bird management & conservation (BNA)
- Determine
MONQ population status and trends in
New Mexico
(
New Mexico
)
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Information
on feeding ecology (including how it finds food, diet, & whether
it depends on food cached by other birds) of MONQ (BNA)
- Studies
of behavior (including vocalization, nesting & breeding, dispersal
patterns, and lifetime reproductive success) (BNA)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Grazing
effects
- Effects of grazing on MONQ populations (
Arizona
); Long-term studies in areas protected from cattle grazing - priority
(BNA); see last bullet
- Hunting
effects on Montezuma Quail population level (
Arizona
); see last bullet
- Fire
effects on Montezuma Quail population level (AZ - 952); see last
bullet
- Determine
management practices required to perpetuate populations on private
& public land (TARP - Chihuahuan Desert & Mexican Mts)
- If
a reliable index of abundance is developed, conduct studies comparing
populations in habitats subjected to various levels of wild fire,
grazing & hunting (BNA)
Effects
of Human Development/Disturbance
- Economic
evaluation comparing values derived from hunting & recreational
bird-watching (BNA)
- See
needs under “Effects of Management Practices”
Invasives/Exotics/Disease/Parasites/Contaminants
- Effects
of parasites, diseases, and baseline levels of pesticides or heavy
metals in tissues (BNA)
Demographics
- Information
on annual precipitation and breeding success rates and population
numbers of MONQ (
Arizona
)
Global
Change
- Studies
of undisturbed populations to reveal patterns of population
fluctuations in response to natural climatic variation (BNA)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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