{{short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | name = Snow Mountain quail | image = Snow Mountains Quail.JPG | image_caption = Illustration of female and male (in front) | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |article-number=e.T22678993A218829948 |title=''Anurophasis monorthonyx'' |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year=2023 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T22678993A218829948.en}}</ref> | genus = Synoicus | species = monorthonyx | authority = (van Oort, 1910) | synonyms = ''Anurophasis monorthonyx'' <small>van Oort, 1910</small> | range_map = Snow Mountains Quail range.jpg | range_map_caption = {{legend|#22b14e|&nbsp;range in Papua, Indonesia}} }}

The '''Snow Mountain quail''' ('''''Synoicus monorthonyx'''''), is a roughly 28-cm-long (11&nbsp;in), dark brown quail of alpine grasslands. It was formerly considered the only member of the genus ''Anurophasis'', but phylogenetic analysis places it as the sister species to the brown quail (''S. ypsilophorus'') in the genus ''Synoicus''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hosner|first1=Peter A.|last2=Tobias|first2=Joseph A.|last3=Braun|first3=Edward L. |last4=Kimball |first4=Rebecca T.|date=2017-05-17|title=How do seemingly non-vagile clades accomplish trans-marine dispersal? Trait and dispersal evolution in the landfowl (Aves: Galliformes) |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=284 |issue=1854|article-number=20170210|doi=10.1098/rspb.2017.0210|pmc=5443944|pmid=28469029}}</ref> It has heavily marked brown plumage, a pale yellow bill, yellow legs and a brown iris. The underparts of the female are whitish and more distinctly barred black than in the male.

{{multiple image | direction = vertical | align = left | caption_align = center | width = 200 | image1 = Snow mountain quail chick.JPG | alt1 = | caption1 = Chick of the Snow Mountain quail | image2 = Puyuh jayawijaya, crop.jpg | alt2 = | caption2 = Adult male in Lorentz National Park }} The Snow Mountain quail is confined to Western New Guinea's highest elevations, the Snow and Star Mountains. This little-known bird is protected only by the remoteness of its habitat, a mostly inaccessible area at altitudes of {{convert|3200|–|4200|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name=IUCN/>

The female usually lays up to three, pale brown, dark-spotted eggs in a hollow nest under the edge of a grass tussock. The diet consists mainly of seeds, flowers, leaves, and other vegetable matter.

Due to its large range which is largely inaccessible to human encroachment, the Snow Mountain quail is evaluated as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.<ref name=IUCN/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=203&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060511193457/http://www.rdb.or.id/detailbird.php?id=335 Red Data Book]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q283577}}

Category:Quails Category:Synoicus Category:Birds of Western New Guinea Category:Endemic fauna of New Guinea Category:Endemic fauna of Indonesia Category:Endemic birds of Indonesia Category:Birds described in 1910 Category:Taxa named by Eduard Daniël van Oort Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN <!-- Synoicus monorthonyx -->