The Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) gets its name from the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin – the first specimen was documented in Mexico by Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1830. A very plump, short-tailed, round-winged game bird, with essentially no neck, this little quail can be hard to spot as it runs through open grassy woodlands in dry regions of the southwest U.S. and Mexico. The Montezuma Quail's genus name Cyrtonyx derives from the Greek words kurtus (bent) and onux (claw).
