Singing Quail

On March 21, 2026, at Finca El Pilar near Antigua, Guatemala, I was with my guide Bobby hiking up a trail that got steeper as we went along. Eventually we encountered wooden steps that we used to trudge more steeply. We were encountering the musical sounds of singing quail. I had a hard time believing it was quail as it was very un-quail-like. Bobby was getting occasional glimpses of them running through the understory, but I was always late for dinner. Finally, Bobby pointed one out to me quite close, below us, and I saw one for a few seconds, but I did not have enough time to memorialize it with a photo before it disappeared again into the bushes. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World.