Its pointed crest and finely mottled plumage make this ground-dwelling bird distinctive. It lives in open grassland and woodland edges, feeding mainly on seeds.
A pointed crest rises from the head, and the back is finely mottled with gray, white, and black. Females also have a crest, but it is shorter than the male's, and their colors are more subdued.
Crested Bobwhites in this Venezuelan savanna showed strong group cohesion. Birds sometimes rested beside traps containing captured companions. Within days of release, radio-tagged birds were again socialising and feeding with others.
Five birds were tracked at La Iguana during 2002–2003. Each belonged to a different group of five to seven. Movements increased late in the afternoon, and their home ranges overlapped extensively.
Open savanna was used frequently, but scattered islands of trees were used more than expected from their availability. These groves formed an important part of the birds’ local habitat.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The authors suggest that retaining scattered groves under traditional pasture management could benefit this species. Maintaining a mixture of grassland and wooded patches is a local conservation consideration.