Editing Northern bobwhite (section)

==Taxonomy==
The northern bobwhite was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Tetrao virginianus''. Linnaeus specified the [[type location (biology)|type location]] as "America" but this has been restricted to the state of [[Virginia]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=161 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727068 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=47 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482860 }}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Catesby  | first=Mark | author-link=Mark Catesby | year=1734–1747 | title=The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands | volume=2 | location=London | publisher=W. Innys and R. Manby | language=English, French | at=Appendix, p. 12, Plate 12 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40680433 }}</ref> 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]].<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Pheasants, partridges, francolins | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/pheasants/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref>

===Subspecies===
[[File:76 Virginian Partridge.jpg|thumb|230px|right|{{center|Plate 76 of ''[[Birds of America (book)|Birds of America]]'' by [[John James Audubon]] depicting Virginian Partridge.}}]]
There are 20 recognized [[subspecies]] in four groups. One subspecies, the Key West bobwhite (''C. v. insulanus''), is extinct. The subspecies are listed in taxonomic order:<ref name=ioc/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brennan |first1=Leonard A. |last2=Hernandez |first2=Fidel |last3=Williford |first3=Damon |date=2020 |title=Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), version 1.0 |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/norbob/cur/introduction |journal=Birds of the World |language=en |doi=10.2173/bow.norbob.01|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

*Eastern group
**''C. v. virginianus'' <small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758)</small> - Virginia bobwhite - eastern [[North America]] from [[Ontario]] south to northern [[Florida]] (includes former subspecies ''marilandicus'' and ''mexicanus'')
**''C. v. floridanus'' <small>([[Elliott Coues|Coues]], 1872)</small> – Florida bobwhite – peninsular [[Florida]]
**†''C. v. insulanus'' <small>(Howe, 1904)</small> – Key West bobwhite – the [[Florida Keys]] (extinct)
**''C. v. cubanensis'' <small>([[George Robert Gray|GR Gray]], 1846)</small> – Cuban bobwhite – [[Cuba]] and [[Isla de la Juventud]]; introduced to [[Hispaniola]], [[Puerto Rico]], the [[Bahamas]], and the [[Turks and Caicos]] islands
**''C. v. taylori'' <small>(Lincoln, 1915)</small> – plains bobwhite – [[South Dakota]] to northern [[Texas]], western [[Missouri]] and northwestern [[Arkansas]]
**''C. v. texanus'' <small>([[George Newbold Lawrence|Lawrence]], 1853)</small> – Texas bobwhite – southwestern Texas to northern [[Mexico]]
**''C. v. aridus'' <small>(Lawrence, 1853)</small> – Jaumave bobwhite – west-central [[Tamaulipas]] to southeastern [[San Luis Potosí]]
**''C. v. maculatus'' <small>([[Edward William Nelson|Nelson]], 1899)</small> – spot-bellied bobwhite – central Tamaulipas to northern [[Veracruz]] and southeastern San Luis Potosí
*Grayson's group
**''C. v. graysoni'' <small>(Lawrence, 1867)</small> – Grayson's bobwhite – west-central Mexico
**''C. v. nigripectus'' <small>(Nelson, 1897)</small> – Puebla bobwhite – eastern Mexico
*Black-breasted group
**''C. v. pectoralis'' <small>([[John Gould|Gould]], 1843)</small> – black-breasted bobwhite – eastern slopes and mountains of central [[Veracruz]]
**''C. v. godmani'' <small>(Nelson, 1897)</small> – Godman's bobwhite – eastern slopes and mountains of central [[Veracruz]]
**''C. v. minor'' <small>(Nelson, 1901)</small> – least bobwhite – northeastern [[Chiapas]] and [[Tabasco]]
**''C. v. thayeri'' <small>([[Outram Bangs|Bangs]] and [[James Lee Peters|Peters]], 1928)</small> – Thayer's bobwhite – northeastern [[Oaxaca]]
*Masked group
**''C. v. ridgwayi'' <small>([[William Brewster (ornithologist)|Brewster]], 1885)</small> – masked bobwhite – north-central [[Sonora]]; reintroduced to [[Arizona]]
**''C. v. atriceps'' <small>([[William Robert Ogilvie-Grant|Ogilvie-Grant]], 1893)</small> – black-headed bobwhite – interior of western Oaxaca
**''C. v. harrisoni'' <small>(Orr and Webster, 1968)</small> – Harrison's bobwhite – southwestern Oaxaca
**''C. v. coyoleos'' <small>([[Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller|Müller, PLS]], 1776)</small> – Coyoleos bobwhite – Pacific Coast of Oaxaca and [[Chiapas]]
**''C. v. salvini'' <small>(Nelson, 1897)</small> – Salvin's bobwhite – coastal and southern Chiapas
**''C. v. insignis'' <small>(Nelson, 1897)</small> – Guatemalan bobwhite – [[Guatemala]] (Rio Chiapas Valley) and southeastern Chiapas (includes former subspecies ''nelsoni'')

The [[Type (biology)|holotype specimen]] of ''Ortyx pectoralis'' [[John Gould|Gould]] ([https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30679944 Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1842 (1843), p.182.]) is held in the collections of the [[National Museums Liverpool]] at the [[World Museum]], with accession number D3713. The specimen died in the aviary at [[Knowsley Hall]], Lancashire and came to the Liverpool national collection via the [[13th Earl of Derby]]'s collection, which was bequeathed to the people of Liverpool in 1851.