Behavior

Like other wood-quails, vocalizes daily at dawn and dusk from its tree or brush roosts in pairs or coveys  (Warner 1959, Johnsgard 1988). It is mostly terrestrial, rarely takes to trees except to roost, escape or feeding; when flushed escapes running through dense vegetation or flying up to the tallest tree branches (G. C-L. pers. obs.). Its skulking and elusive behavior makes it difficult to observe,  so it is mainly detected by voice; runs low and swiftly through dense cover with the tail held cocked.

It uses trails often in the same manner of the Marbled Wood-Quail (Odontophorus gujanensis; Warner 1959). They gather at feeding and dusting sites even during the nesting period (Warner 1959).

Johnsgard (1988) states that nothing is known about possible territoriality in Dendrortyx macroura, "but like other tree-quails it engages in daily bouts of 'singing' at dawn and dusk, apparently from pairs or coveys roosting in the same tree. Warner (1959) described these calls as being uttered from February until July, which corresponds to the probable major breeding season".

The complex system of vocalization and the lack of a marked plumage sexual dimorphism in the Long-tailed may be more related to pair-bonding than territoriality, since both male and female vocalize (G. C-L. pers. obs.). There may be no typical fixed territoriality as in passerines because pairing in New World quails typically occurs prior to covey breakup, and the object of male defense would be the female, rather than a definable area (Johnsgard 1988).

Like other New World quails, the Long-tailed Wood-Partridge is a monogamous species and presumably maintains the pair bond through the breeding season, allowing the male to participate in the protection of the nest, incubation and care for the brood; loud duetting by paired birds probably serves in keeping them in contact with one another under reduced visibility in its forest habitats (Johnsgard 1973, 1988).

There is no information on sex ratio, courtship displays, nest-showing displays, copulatory displays, or extra-pair copulations.

Long-tailed Wood-Partridges live singly or in pairs but form small groups in the  post-breeding season (August-October), when they gather in family groups of up to 15 members (G- C-L. pers. obs.).

There is little information on predation. Probable predators are snakes, gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), coati (Nasua narica), raccoon (Procyon lotor), bobcat (Lynx rufus), hawks, ravens, and jays, who may eat eggs, chicken, young and adults. The author witnessed a depredation event in Michoacán: an adult Long-tailed was captured by a coyote (Canis latrans) on a dirt road that divided a recently burnt area from a dense vegetation area; the coyote ran up the naked slope of the burnt area with the dead quail in its mouth, stopped at the top of the low hill, took a look back at the observer and continued running until it disappeared behind the hill (G. C-L. pers obs).

The only information about depredation on a nest is that of Warner (1959) in Morelos, where a nest with four eggs was visited three weeks later to find only remains of scattered feathers of an adult quail, broken egg shells, and a distorted nest cavity.