Habitat degradation has contributed to the northern bobwhite population in eastern North America declining by roughly 85% from 1966 to 2014.

The northern bobwhite was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tetrao virginianus.

[7][8] Linnaeus based his account on the "American partridge" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.

[9] The northern bobwhite is now one of four species placed in the genus Colinus that was introduced in 1820 by the German naturalist Georg August Goldfuss.

The subspecies are listed in taxonomic order:[10][11] The holotype specimen of Ortyx pectoralis Gould (Proc.

The northern bobwhite is a moderately-sized quail, and is the only small galliform native to eastern North America.

As indicated by body mass, weights increase in birds found further north, as corresponds to Bergmann's rule.

The northern bobwhite can be found year-round in agricultural fields, grassland, open woodland areas, roadsides and wood edges.

It is absent from the southern tip of Florida (where the extinct Key West bobwhite subspecies once lived) and the highest elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, but occurs in eastern Mexico and in Cuba, and has been introduced to Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti), the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands (formerly), Puerto Rico, France, China, Portugal, and Italy.

[19] Similarly, the bird is almost extirpated from Ontario (and Canada as a whole), with the only self-sustaining population confirmed to exist recorded on Walpole Island.

When threatened, it will crouch and freeze, relying on camouflage to stay undetected, but will flush into low flight if closely disturbed.

It is generally solitary or paired early in the year, but family groups are common in the late summer and winter roosts may have two dozen or more birds in a single covey.

[20] The species was once considered monogamous, but with the advent of radio telemetry, the sexual behavior of bobwhites has better been described as ambisexual polygamy.

[25] The northern bobwhite's diet consists of plant material and small invertebrates, such as snails, ticks, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, crickets, and leafhoppers.

[27] Optimal nutrient requirements for bobwhite vary depending on the age of bird and the time of the year.

As bobwhites are highly productive and popular aviary subjects, it is reasonable to expect other introductions have been made in other parts of the EU, especially in the U.K. and Ireland, where game-bird breeding, liberation, and naturalization are relatively common practices.

[36][37] After 1923, no more genuinely wild birds were sighted until 1952, when a small population was found northwest of Wairoa in the Ruapapa Road area.

[33] More birds have been imported into New Zealand by private individuals since the 1990s and a healthy captive population is now held by backyard aviculturists and have been found to be easily cared for and bred and are popular for their song and good looks.

In the early morning and late afternoon, the cock will utter his call, which, although not loud, carries well and may offend noise-sensitive neighbors.

High protein foods such as chicken grower crumble are more convenient to supply and will be useful for the stimulation of breeding birds.

Extra calcium is required, especially by laying hens; it can be supplied in the form of shell grit, or cuttlefish bone.

It has long been suggested that there are Japanese quail hybrids being bred commercially; however, there is a distinct lack of photographic proof to substantiate this.

[46] In 2019, biologists from the Sutton Center transported 1,000 chicks by road vehicle to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

[48][49] In 2023, the masked bobwhite subspecies will be featured on a United States Postal Service Forever stamp as part of the Endangered Species set, based on a photograph from Joel Sartore's Photo Ark.