California Quail Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (2024)

FAQs

What are 5 facts about the California quail? ›

WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE. These birds have a cluster of overlapping feathers on top of their small heads that curl into a U shape. They have short necks; wide wings; and a long, square tail. Their round bellies are covered with gray, white, and rust-colored feathers. Female California quail have brown heads.

California Quail are pretty as well as popular with game hunters. They've been introduced to many other parts of the world, including Hawaii, Europe, and New Zealand. The oldest known California Quail was 6 years 11 months old.

It has adapted rather well to the increasing human population, and is often found around well-wooded suburbs and even large city parks. California Quail live in coveys at most seasons, and are often seen strutting across clearings, nodding their heads at each step.

The California is a plump, short-tailed quail with gray and brown plumage; a prominent teardrop-shaped head plume or double plume is present in both sexes. Adult male: pale forehead with brown crown and black throat, scaled belly with a chestnut patch, brown upperparts.

They eat a variety of food but the bulk of their diet is made up of seeds. They will also eat plant material like leaves, flowers and catkins. They can also eat small invertebrates like caterpillars and snails. California Quail typically nest on the ground and can have clutches that range from 12 to 16 eggs.

California quail are sometimes kept as pets and are hunted as a source of food. (Leopold 1977).

Quail roost in dense trees or shrubs at night, which I discovered during my night hikes as they are easily scared off their roost at dusk. Quail mainly nest on the ground in grass or shrubs or next to logs or large rocks, but sometimes they nest ten inches above the ground in a shrub or tree.

The California quail (Callipepla californica), also known as the California valley quail or Valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family.

They don't actually go anywhere. Quails are well adapted to surviving the winter. In the wintertime, they have lots of feathers, which trap air and insulate them against the cold. They also move around in groups called coveys and during storms or at night, they cuddle close together to conserve body heat.

What is special about the California quail? ›

California quail are serially monogamous; this means that their pair bonds last only during one breeding season. Their nest is a shallow scrape lined with vegetation on the ground beneath a shrub or other cover. The female usually lays approximately 12 eggs and incubates them for 22-23 days.

2). California has the highest densities. The continental population has been relatively stable since 1966 (Table 2).

Adult males are rich gray and brown, with a black face outlined with bold white stripes. Females are a plainer brown and lack the facial markings. Both sexes have a pattern of white, creamy, and chestnut scales on the belly. Young birds look like females but have a shorter topknot.

Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 5.8 million and rates them 7 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of low conservation concern. These are popular game birds, and between 800,000 and 1.2 million are shot each year in California alone.

Their breeding habitat is shrubby areas and open woodlands in western North America. The nest is a shallow scrape lined with vegetation on the ground beneath a shrub or other cover. The female usually lays approximately 12 eggs. Once hatched, the young associate with both adults.

California Quails (Callipepla californica) are black or brown with white streaks, but their bellies are all different colors from bluish grey to light yellow.