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

FAQs

California Quail Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology? ›

Basic Description. The California Quail is a handsome, round soccer ball of a bird with a rich gray breast, intricately scaled underparts, and a curious, forward-drooping head plume.

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.

Gambel's quail have a large black spot below a buff stripe on their lower abdomen where California quail have rich brassy and copper colored feathers. Both California and Gambel's male quail have white brow and "jaw" stripes against a black face.

Length: 9.4 to 10.6 inches. Wingspan: 12.6 to 14.6 inches. Lifespan: The oldest known California Quail was 6 years 11 months old. Diet consists of mainly of seeds.

Mostly seeds and leaves. Feeds on a wide variety of plants, but especially annual weeds, eating the seeds, leaves, and fresh shoots. Also eats acorns, berries, flowers, bulbs, insects.

Quail spend most of their lives in a relatively small area, with groups of 8 to 25 birds common in a single covey. Flight speed of most quail is 30 to 40 mph. Quail generally forage twice a day, in early morning and mid-to-late afternoon. Quail eat a wide variety of foods including insects, seeds, leaves, and berries.

Compared to eating chicken, eating quail is better for you because quail meat is higher in vitamin C and iron. Quail gives you vitamin A whereas chicken does not. And quail also gives you more minerals and amino acids than chicken meat.

Dominating the scene with their unparalleled egg production, Coturnix quail (also known as Japanese quail) are the go-to breed for enthusiasts and commercial breeders alike. These feathered friends start laying eggs as early as 6-8 weeks old and can produce a staggering 200-300 eggs per year.

California Quail spend most of their time on the ground, walking and scratching in search of food. In morning and evening they forage beneath shrubs or on open ground near cover. They usually travel in groups called coveys.

What time of day are California quail most active? ›

Quail tend to feed most actively in the morning and late afternoon, so those are the best times to pursue them in and around grain fields and places where weed and grass seeds are readily available.

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.

The California quail will roost in trees to avoid danger and to rest.

Know that some types of foods can be toxic to quail.

This includes avocado, caffeine, chocolate, grape seeds, meat, parsley, rhubarb, the stems and leaves of tomato plants, salty foods and treats, uncooked potatoes, and most citrus fruits. Quail will avoid anything toxic to them unless they are starving.

California Quail are known for their comma-shaped feather plume (topknot) which extends from their forehead. Both males and females sport this topknot however males have longer topknots.

All three species of quail prefer seeds in the pea family: lotus, lupine and clover. Filaree and chickweed are other good forb options. Oak trees are a good option because they can provide perches for birds and California quail will eat the oak galls.

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.

Wingspan: 12.6-14.6 in (32-37 cm)

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.