Abstract
Mexico contains the smallest land area of the three countries in North America, yet has the largest diversity of vertebrates (Flores-Villela and Fernández 1989, Graham 1993). Recently, Mexico was found to rank among the top 10 countries in the world for the number of restricted range species of birds (103) and number of Endemic Bird Areas (14) it contains (Bibby et al. 1992). Johnsgard (1973, 1988) has suggested that the New World quail evolved in the vicinity of southern Mexico and Guatemala, and radiated to North and South America from there. Mexico has the greatest diversity of quail of any country in the New World. Of the nine described genera and approximately 32 species of quail native to the New World, Mexico has populations representing eight genera and 15 species. Despite it's importance, we know very little about populations and biology of quail in Mexico.