This is a hybrid between a spot-bellied bobwhite (Colinus leucopogon) and a California quail (Callipepla californica).
The spot-bellied bobwhite is a close relative of the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) that is found in the United States and Canada. There are actually four species of bobwhite, and this one is endemic to Central America.
New World quail aren’t like the true quail of the Old World. They actually behave and look like partridges. (The old name for the northern bobwhite was “the Virginia partridge.”)
New World quail are in their own family, the Odontophoridae. The quail and partridges are Phasianids– an entirely different family.
The various species of New World quail are pretty common captivity, and in captive situations, they become even tamer than domestic fowl.
And in captive situations, these birds hybridize across species– and across genera.
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The Gallinaceous birds seem particularly prone to cross-breeding and to domestication. In retrospect one has to wonder if there is a genetic connection between the two proclivities.
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