Quail

No other game bird has so many different species or such a wide range of distribution than these enchanting little creatures, which resemble pear-shaped, miniature partridges. There are over one hundred and thirty different types of quail worldwide, and they can be found in virtually every country below the Arctic. North America has six principal quail species: Gambel’s (Lophortyx Gambetti) or desert quail, whose habitat is the arid parts of California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. These little birds have silvery body plumage, black cheeks surmounted by a red cap, and forward-sloping black plume. They prefer to live in brush near to water, scratching for seeds at the edge of mesquite or hackberry thickets. California or valley quail (Lorphortyx Californicus), the state bird of California, has a black throat and face bordered by white bands, a white forehead, and backward-sloping plume. Their habitat is mixed woodland, chaparral, and valleys full of natural grasses, from California, Oregon, and Washington, spreading into several neighboring states and over the border into British Columbia. Montezuma’s quail (Cyrtonyz Montezumae), otherwise known as Mearns or the Harlequin quail, has a distinctive black and white face, heavy white spotting on the flanks, and russet backward-sloping plume. These can be found among open woodland and grassy slopes in the Southwest, from southern Arizona to Texas and Mexico.